Compliance Assistance - Drop-In Article

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New DOL Resources to Help Businesses Understand and
Comply with Federal Employment Laws

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) recently unveiled two new tools to help businesses understand how to comply with the employment laws and regulations it administers.

The FirstStep Employment Law Advisor and the Employment Law Guide are the latest resources to come out of DOL's initiative to provide increased compliance assistance to better protect the wages, health benefits, retirement security, safety and health of America's workforce.

The FirstStep Employment Law Advisor is an e-tool, available at www.dol.gov/elaws, that helps employers determine which laws administered by DOL apply to their business or organization and provides easy-to-access information on how to comply with the laws requirements. It is one of a series of several elaws (Employment Laws Assistance for Workers and Small Businesses) Advisors, which are online, interactive systems that provide information about selected DOL laws and regulations.

The Employment Law Guide describes DOL's main laws and regulations in plain language for employers needing introductory information to develop wage, benefit, safety and health and nondiscrimination policies for their businesses. It is available in English and Spanish, both in print and online. Employers can obtain a free copy by calling 1-866-4-USA-DOL or by visiting www.dol.gov/compliance.

Under the leadership of Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao, the Department has placed a significant emphasis on helping employers understand their rights and responsibilities under Federal employment laws. "With this new Compliance Assistance Initiative, the Department has initiated a comprehensive program to reach out to employers and employees to educate them about our nations employment laws," said Chao. "There is a new era of responsibility at the Department of Labor to help the regulated community understand these exhaustive rules and regulations."

As part of this new effort, Secretary Chao also recently created an Office of Compliance Assistance Policy within the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Policy.