What you need to know about new fed compliance office

The U.S. Labor Department says its new Office of Compliance Initiatives (OCI) will strengthen compliance assistance outreach by promoting a greater understanding of federal labor laws and regulations.

In announcing the new office last month, U.S. Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta said OCI efforts will help companies prevent violations and protect Americans' wages, workplace safety and health, retirement security, and other rights and benefits. As part of its work, OCI will work with the enforcement agencies to refine their metrics to ensure the efficacy of the Department's compliance assistance activities.

Two new websites - worker.gov and employer.gov – will help the OCI disseminate information.

Established within the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Policy, OCI will provide leadership and support to the Department's enforcement agencies, advancing the expansion and development of innovative approaches to compliance assistance and enforcement. OCI's work will include:

Facilitating and encouraging a culture that promotes compliance assistance within the Department
Providing employers and workers with access to high-quality, up-to-date information about their obligations and rights under federal labor laws and regulations
Assisting enforcement agencies in developing new strategies to use data for more impactful compliance and enforcement strategies
Enhancing outreach to stakeholders for the Department's enforcement agencies

OCI will also focus on helping enforcement agencies more effectively use online resources to deliver information and compliance assistance to the American people.

Worker.gov provides a centralized base of information focused on federal worker protections. Employer.gov provides companies with easy-to-understand information about their responsibilities under federal laws and regulations. The Department expects more effective compliance assistance will help the Department target enforcement resources on repeat and willful violators to level the playing field for companies who abide by the law.

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