The BEST way to reduce litigation costs is — to avoid claims altogether. Here are a few proven way to keep cases out of litigation. Not all recommendations work all of the time due to strong activity of the plaintiff’s bar, and other factors beyond our control, but you and your employees are ahead if you can prevent them from retaining unneeded legal counsel.
The key to the process is improving employer – employee relations. Employees who believe their employer does not care, or is out to get them, will be more likely to go to a third party either out of spite or lack of confidence that they will be treated fairly. Consider the following:
- Attorneys advertise and seek out clients; Employers need to be equally aggressive in obviating attorney involvement.
- Assure employees they are getting what they are entitled to by the insurance carrier.
- An attorney get a big “chunk of what the employees are entitled to (this is called a contingency fee.) Ask the employee, “Why not wait and see what the insurance company does for you first?”
- Maintain communication with every employee while off work.
- Work diligently to alleviate your employee’s concerns.
- If possible, assign a staff member to act as ombudsman and employee advocate, as well as, liaison with the claim administrator (if the claim is compensable.)
Next in mini-series coming Monday. Sign up for the RSS feed or email delivery to receive Barb’s informative articles automatically. Sign up is in top right hand corner. If you have questions for Barb, you can write her in the comment box below. Barb is Area Senior Vice President Claims, Arthur J. Gallagher Risk Management Services, based in Itasca, IL. She has over 20 years of experience in the industry and is among the top WC experts in the field. Click here for more information: http://www.ajg.com/portal/server.pt?open=512&objID=462&PageID=53927&cached=true&mode=2&userID=21938
