As we move into 2020, headlines continue to dominate the employee-related insurance marketplace. While the trend of allegations from #MeToo, the movement focused on sexual harassment in the workplace, and #timesup, the movement focused on equality in the workplace, are keeping pace with 2019, we are seeing headlines highlighting new legislation and rules passed by more than 20 state governments. These new laws protect alleged victims and invigorate more plaintiff-friendly judges and juries, leading to a continued trend of increased defense costs, settlements and judgements, and the promise of more to come as plaintiffs’ firms test out new laws and rules. Top Employment Practices Liability (EPL) insurers such as AIG, Chubb, CNA and Travelers are seeing claims frequency and severity continue to trend upward, putting upward pressure on premiums and retentions for EPL in 2020. Overall, we anticipate that most insureds will experience rate pressure in the range of 5–15% in addition to premium increase in response to increases in employee count, the number-one exposure for EPL premium rating.

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