One in three Americans believes that businesses are not doing enough to protect them from workplace discrimination and identity theft, according to a recent survey from the Chubb Group of Insurance Companies.

Nearly one-third of the people surveyed noted that, compared to a year ago, companies are less likely to protect employees from gender discrimination (30 percent) and other workplace discrimination (32 percent). One-third (32 percent) also believe that companies are less likely to protect consumers from the theft of personal information.

“A record-high number of discrimination charges have been filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission,” notes Catherine Padalino, vice president and employment practices liability product manager for Chubb. Employers should conduct investigations of all employment discrimination charges and report them in a timely manner to their insurance company, says Padalino. “In addition, employers should continually review and adhere to anti-discrimination and anti-retaliation policies and procedures, keep abreast of changes in employment laws and seek outside counsel when facing discrimination charges or considering employee layoffs.”

“Despite corporate controls, the number of cyber breaches continues to grow. The increased use of electronic health records, mobile devices, apps and social media offers cyber criminals new places to play,” says Tracey Vispoli, senior vice president and Chubb’s worldwide cyber security liability manager. “As cyber breaches expose more employees and consumers to identity theft, companies are wrestling with higher costs to contain and repair the financial and reputational damage.”

A company’s board of directors needs to understand the risk associated with the theft of employee and customer information, Vispoli advises. “This is more than just an IT issue. Although companies can help mitigate the risk by following best practices, they also need to have contingency plans in place before a data breach occurs.”