What's Going On at the DOL
Few agencies impact the workplace more than the Department of Labor (DOL) which enforces, establishes, and oversees laws, regulations, and workplace practices. The DOL oversees areas such as wage-and-hour and Family Medical Leave (through the Wage and Hour division), employment and unemployment statistics (through the Bureau of Labor Statistics), health and safety (through the Occupational Safety and Health division), veterans employment (VETS), discrimination in the workplace (through the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Administration and Management), and federal contractors (through the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs). In 2018, in order to streamline and consolidate some of this oversight, Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta initiated several important actions to help employers with applicable employment laws and regulations.
The DOL has begun re-issuing opinion letters based on requests from employers and labor attorneys for clarity on specific topics. Opinion letters were a common practice until 2010 when they were replaced with more general “Administrative Interpretations.”
This fall the DOL held five listening sessions regarding potential revisions to the Fair Labor Standards Act “white-collar exemptions regulations” (“overtime rule”). At these sessions, participants provided thoughts on topics such as appropriate salary levels for exemptions and for highly-compensated employees, the best ways to update salary levels in the future, and the costs and benefits to employers and employees for increasing the salary level.
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The DOL announced the formation of the Office of Compliance Initiatives (OCI) to “promote greater understanding of federal labor laws and regulations to help employers prevent violations while protecting American’s wages, workplace safety and health, retirement security, and other rights and benefits.” Among its purposes, the OCI provides employers and workers with access to high-quality, up-to-date information about their obligations and rights and helps enforcement agencies develop more effective online resources to deliver information and compliance assistance, with two new sites already launched:
- Worker.gov – provides information focused on federal worker protections
- Employer.gov – provides employers information about their responsibilities under federal law & regulations
The OFCCP has announced new options for federal contractors involved in discrimination complaints. Contractors who resolve the discrimination complaint early in the investigation process and apply whatever negative finding to all facilities (not just the one identified in the complaint) will have a five-year grace period from OFCCP audits. (They currently get a 2-year grace period if settled early.) The intention is that, by expanding the consequences of findings to all locations, the results become more company-wide.
We wanted to share these changes with you so that you are aware of the intent for the DOL to become more employer friendly. As always, Affinity HR Group is here to assist you while navigating the maze of employment law and regulations.
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The Monday HR Minute, brought to you by Affinity HR Group, is designed to provide you with practical, applicable human resources and management advice and information in a format that will take you 60 seconds or less to read. We believe that by dedicating just one minute a week to thinking about people management practices, business owners and managers can make enormous strides in improving workplace performance. |
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Affinity HR Group is a full service human resources consulting firm that specializes in advising small and medium-sized enterprises. Our services include recruiting and selection, HR policies and compliance, ad hoc HR support, compensation and performance management, and training and development. We are an endorsed HR partner of a number of leading national trade associations and offer free initial consultations and discounted services to their member companies.
Email us at contact@affinityhrgroup.com or call 877-660-6400.
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