skip navigational links United States Department of Labor
May 9, 2009   
DOL Home > Compliance Assistance > News Room > Press Kit
DOL Home

Office of Compliance Assistance Policy
Showcase of Compliance Assistance Tools

A Closer Look at Easy-to-Use DOL Employment Law Resources

elaws® Advisor Spotlight
Employment Laws Assistance for Workers and Small Businesses

FirstStep Suite of Advisors

The new FirstStep Recordkeeping, Reporting and Notices elaws Advisor, which allows businesses and other organizations to determine which recordkeeping, reporting and notice requirements apply to them, has been integrated with the revised and expanded FirstStep Poster and FirstStep Employment Law Overview Advisors. The FirstStep suite of Advisors, which is available at www.dol.gov/elaws/firststep, is particularly useful for new or small businesses who want to know which of the Department of Labor’s (DOL) major laws apply to them, and what they must do to comply.

  • The revised FirstStep Employment Law Overview Advisor takes into account the relevant variables — such as size of the business and type of industry — that determine coverage under DOL’s laws. Users are able to quickly find the requirements applicable to them without wading through extensive regulatory text. The Advisor provides the user with information on the basic provisions of each law, and includes information from the other two Advisors on what records they must keep, what information they must report, and which notices or posters they must distribute or post.
  • The new FirstStep Recordkeeping, Reporting and Notices Advisor provides a user with information on the recordkeeping, reporting and notice requirements (including posters) that their organization must fulfill. If users already know which laws apply to them, they may skip the interactive Advisor and go straight to summaries of the selected laws’ requirements.
  • The FirstStep Poster Advisor has been updated to include information about where the posters must be displayed in the workplace, as well as what size and language requirements apply to each. And of course, each DOL poster can be downloaded and printed by the user for free from the Advisor.

The elaws Advisors (Employment Laws Assistance for Workers and Small Businesses) are free Web-based tools designed to help employers and workers understand the major employment laws administered by the Department. DOL offers more than 25 other elaws Advisors covering a wide range of employment law topics, such as minimum wage and overtime, child labor, veterans’ workplace rights, health and retirement benefits, and workplace safety and health. The Advisors offer employers and employees access to information about federal employment laws at any time, from anywhere, free of charge. For more information on these Web-based educational tools, visit www.dol.gov/elaws.

To subscribe to receive e-mail updates when new elaws Advisors or other compliance assistance resources become available, visit www.dol.gov/compliance/CA_subscribe.htm.

Access this tool by visiting DOL’s compliance assistance Web page,
by e-mailing us or by calling our Toll-Free Help Line

www.dol.gov/compliance

compliancehelp@dol.gov

1-866-4-USA-DOL



Phone Numbers