Insurer Beazley has launched a free hotline to help its employment practices liability (EPL) policyholders in the US facilitate the early reporting of workplace issues.

The latest addition to Beazley’s range of risk management tools provides the employees of the insurer’s EPL clients quick access to a call handler 24/7, as well as the option to report issues anonymously if they prefer. This is intended to encourage early reporting, and in turn, enable organizations to detect issues early and mitigate the risk of litigation.

The move comes in response to the #MeToo campaign which has heightened awareness about workplace issues and employment rights, and to organizations’ lack of suitable and effective reporting channels.

“In our experience, some employees are reluctant to report sexual harassment or other complaints unless they can be certain that the reporting channels are anonymous and that complaints can be made free of reprisal,” said Paul Nash, EPL focus group leader at Beazley. “Sometimes all that’s needed is one complaint to reveal an endemic problem within an organization. The earlier senior managers become aware of an issue, the sooner mitigating action can be taken. We see our new hotline as a win-win for employees and employers.”