See what one workplace claim could cost your business.
Model the potential cost of a serious workplace complaint, investigation, or employment charge in about 30 seconds. Change any assumption and see the result immediately.
No email required · Editable assumptions · Directional estimate, not legal advice
Run your numbers
Start with one serious workplace matter. Add more if you want to model your organization's actual experience.
Results update immediately. No email required.
Based on 1 serious workplace matter at $160,000 per matter, plus approximately 32 hours of internal response time.
- Direct cost exposure
- $160,000
- Internal time cost
- $2,496
- Internal time required
- 32 hours
Direct cost is the potential legal, investigation, defense, settlement, or outside-support cost based on the assumption selected.
Internal time cost is the estimated cost of 32 internal hours spent receiving, investigating, documenting, and resolving the matters, which is time HR and management could spend operating the business instead.
This is a directional planning estimate, not a prediction, legal opinion, insurance analysis, or guarantee of future costs. Actual costs depend on the facts and response to each matter.
Now compare that exposure with the cost of building the right system.
A complete prevention and response program for $129 per month.
The Texas Small Employer Program includes role-specific training, an independent employee hotline, manager guidance, quarterly employee check-ins, Texas-specific policies and documentation, and investigation support when needed.
Get exact pricing for your workforce.
Pricing depends on total headcount, employee locations, applicable state requirements, and program scope. A free 30-minute assessment gives you a written gap analysis and an exact program recommendation.
Free 30-minute assessment · Written gap report · No obligation
The calculator does not count everything a workplace problem can damage.
The estimate includes modeled direct costs and internal response time. It does not attempt to put a dollar value on employee turnover, lost productivity, damaged trust, management distraction, reputational harm, increased insurance costs, or the operational effect of prolonged litigation.
That is intentional. The visible estimate should remain understandable and defensible.
The best time to build the response is before the complaint.
An independent reporting channel allows employees to raise concerns without depending on the normal management chain.
Managers learn what to recognize, escalate, document, and avoid doing after a concern is raised.
Neutral investigation support protects the integrity of the process when internal HR or management is too close to the matter.
Training records, acknowledgments, complaint documentation, and corrective actions are organized before a charge or lawsuit tests the company's response.
The calculator is directional. The outcomes are documented.
A single engagement year with a national technology client. Each figure, including how the avoided exposure was modeled, is explained in the case study.
See exactly how this estimate works
The calculator multiplies the number of serious workplace matters selected by the estimated direct cost per matter. It then adds the estimated internal time required to receive, investigate, document, and resolve each matter.
The $160,000 direct-cost default. Hiscox reviewed 1,214 closed employment claims at businesses with fewer than 500 employees. Roughly a quarter of those charges resulted in a defense and settlement payment, and those averaged $160,000 in total. That is the figure cited elsewhere on this site, so the number is consistent wherever you find it.
The internal-time defaults. 32 hours per matter at a fully loaded cost of $78 per hour. These are empathiHR's own operating assumptions drawn from how long our engagements actually take, not published research, and we would rather say so than imply a source that does not exist. Both are editable in the calculator, which is the point of showing them.
The calculator does not estimate the likelihood that your organization will experience a claim. It models the potential cost if the number of matters selected occurs.
Actual costs vary. This calculator is general information and is not legal advice, an insurance-coverage opinion, or a guarantee of results.
Source: Hiscox, 2017 Guide to Employee LawsuitsCommon questions
Is this predicting that my company will be sued?
Why is the default cost $160,000?
What counts as a serious workplace matter?
Does EPLI eliminate this cost?
Why does the calculator not show an empathiHR return on investment?
What does the Texas Small Employer Program cost?
How do I get exact pricing for a larger organization?
The estimate is useful. Your actual gaps matter more.
In 30 minutes, empathiHR will review your policies, training records, reporting options, workforce locations, and complaint process. You receive a written gap report and clear program pricing based on your organization.