Mitigating the Risks of Injuries, Lawsuits and Theft When Employing Domestic Staff

• ACE Private Risk Services Issues Advice for High Net Worth
  Households

PHILADELPHIA–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Financially successful families often employ domestic staff to make
their busy lives easier to manage, but they can inadvertently achieve
the opposite if they do not follow proper employment methods. To help
these families avoid mistakes and potential loss when employing domestic
staff, ACE Private Risk Services, the high net worth personal insurance
business of ACE Group, today released a white paper titled, “Managing
the Risks of Employing Domestic Staff.”

“As a specialty personal insurer, ACE has deep expertise in mitigating
risks for individuals and families with substantial assets. We’ve seen
that while these families have been very successful managing employees
in their professional lives, they often do not bring the same due
diligence to their personal lives,” said Jim Williamson, Division
President of ACE Private Risk Services. “As a result, they run the risk
of fines and liabilities related to federal and state labor law,
identity and property theft, and even personal physical harm. We
developed recommendations to help families better understand the risks
they face and to encourage them to work with their team of advisors to
ensure a smooth and safe running household.”

To underscore the importance of proper hiring and management practices,
the paper notes that an international firm specializing in security for
organizations and private individual’s reports finding a cause for
concern in the backgrounds of one out of every three applicants for
domestic positions it has investigated.

Recommendations in the ACE white paper include:

• Build the right team: Families should consider consulting with
  an insurance agent, attorney, accountant, and background screening
  firm before making a hire. Specialized household risk management firms
  also can take on a variety of responsibilities for operating large
  households or providing human resources solutions for families and
  family offices.
• Plan in advance: For long-term employees, a proper hiring
  process can take four months or more.
• Have backgrounds professionally checked: Personal
  recommendations and cursory checks by employment agencies can only go
  so far. Families should thoroughly check the backgrounds of job
  finalists, including criminal records both in the U.S. and potentially
  abroad. Follow-up checks should also be conducted every three to five
  years.
• Document expectations: A signed employment agreement should
  detail job duties and requirements, compensation, tax treatment,
  performance evaluations, the termination process, confidentiality
  expectations, and any other important aspects of the job.
• Get the proper insurance: Families should carry workers
  compensation insurance in case their household employee suffers a
  job-related injury or illness. Employment practices liability
  insurance (EPLI) is necessary to protect against claims of
  discrimination or another wrongful employment act. Homeowners,
  valuable collections, auto, and umbrella liability insurance policies
  also provide important protections. If the employee’s duties will
  involve driving his or her own car, the family should make sure the
  employee carries adequate auto and umbrella liability coverage, as
  well.

“Even when the best hiring and management practices are used,
unfortunate incidents can still occur,” added Mr. Williamson. “It is
vital for families to work with both an insurance agent and carrier that
specialize in serving high net worth clients to ensure they are properly
advised and protected.”

About ACE Private Risk Services

ACE Private Risk Services is ACE Group’s high-net-worth personal
insurance business, which provides specialty coverage for homeowners,
automobile, recreational marine, umbrella liability and collections
insurance for financially successful individuals and families. Policies
are issued by Bankers Standard Insurance Co., ACE Insurance Co. of the
Midwest, Atlantic Employers Insurance Co., and Pacific Employers
Insurance Co. Additional information can be found at: www.aceprs.com.

About ACE Group:

ACE Group is one of the world’s largest multiline property and casualty
insurers. With operations in 54 countries, ACE provides commercial and
personal property and casualty insurance, personal accident and
supplemental health insurance, reinsurance, and life insurance to a
diverse group of clients. ACE Limited, the parent company of ACE Group,
is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: ACE) and is a component
of the S&P 500 index. Additional information can be found at www.acegroup.com,
or follow ACE on Twitter, https://twitter.com/ACEGroupNA.

Contacts

ACE Group
Carla Ferrara, 215-640-4744
carla.ferrara@acegroup.com