DOL Launches Office of Compliance Initiatives
Author: Michael Cardman, XpertHR Legal Editor
September 5, 2018
The US Department of Labor (DOL) has created a new Office of Compliance Initiatives (OCI).
The OCI reflects the Trump administration's approach of reaching out to the business community in addition to taking enforcement actions.
"Vigorous enforcement and compliance assistance go hand in hand," Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta said in a statement. "The Office of Compliance Initiatives expands our efforts to promote full compliance with federal labor law."
According to the DOL, the 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."
Its mission will involve:
- Facilitating and encouraging a culture that promotes compliance assistance within the DOL;
- 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; and
- Enhancing outreach to stakeholders for the DOL's enforcement agencies.
The DOL also launched two new websites in conjunction with the new OCI:
- Employer.gov, which provides employers information about their compliance responsibilities under various federal labor and employment laws; and
- Worker.gov, which provides employees information about their rights under the same laws.