Preface

This Guide, a companion to the suite of FirstStep Employment Law elaws Advisors(http://www.dol.gov/elaws/firststep/), describes the major statutes and regulations administered by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) that affect businesses and workers. The Guide is designed mainly for those needing "hands-on" information to develop wage, benefit, safety and health, and nondiscrimination policies for businesses.

For businesses and other employers that do not know which of DOL’s major laws apply to them, please start with the FirstStep Overview Advisor (www.dol.gov/elaws/firststep). The Advisor asks the user a short series of questions to determine which of the major DOL-administered laws apply to their organization. The Advisor takes into account relevant variables — such as size of business and type of industry — that determine coverage for these laws.

For those employers that know which employment laws they apply to them, or have an interest in a particular law, please read the Overview to understand how the Guide is organized.  Please note that each chapter (i.e., law) in the Guide corresponds to the laws covered in the FirstStep Advisor.

The Guide is offered as a public resource. It does not create new legal obligations and it is not a substitute for the U.S. Code, Federal Register, or Code of Federal Regulations as the official sources of applicable law. Every effort has been made to ensure that the information provided is complete and accurate. For those who wish to be notified when updated versions of this Guide are posted at www.dol.gov/compliance, subscribe to the electronic mailing list at www.dol.gov/compliance/CA_subscribe.htm. 

Updated: September 2009