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Operational HR Consulting
Employers Under Greater Scrutiny
On September 30, 2010, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) released its Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years 2011 – 2016. The plan strongly reflects the DOL’s Spring 2010 Regulatory Agenda in which the Secretary of Labor announced a new workplace compliance enforcement strategy called “Plan / Prevent / Protect: The Beginning of a Broader Regulatory and Enforcement Strategy.” Instead of a “catch me if you can” approach, the aggressive strategy is now aimed at requiring employers to “find and fix” violations and to prove they are in compliance with wage and hour, safety laws, and related workplace laws before the DOL ever receives a complaint or launches an investigation. This new strategy positions employers to take, at least, three crucial steps to ensure compliance with the law:
• Plan: Employers will have to establish a written plan to identify and remedy violations to workplace compliance laws as well as other risks to workers.
• Prevent: Both employers and employees are to participate in the implementation of the company’s compliance plan. Employers also would be responsible for monitoring compliance performance that actually prevents violations of workplace laws and related risks and hazards.
• Protect: Employers will have to ensure that the objectives of their compliance action plan actually protect workers and their workplace rights.
In order to effectively engage in the steps of Plan / Prevent / Protect, employers must also include another crucial component in the process – conducting annual HR compliance audits. Audits help businesses more easily recognize where they currently stand and what areas of risk need to be resolved. Whether involving employee handbook policies, timekeeping and record-keeping systems, or employee lifecycle processes (e.g. hiring, performance management, and termination), demonstrating compliance with relevant employment and workplace-related laws is business-critical, will save lots of headaches, and can impact the company’s bottom line.