To help businesses comply with the more than 100 wage, safety, and benefits laws handled by the Department of Labor, the DOL has created the Office of Compliance Initiatives. The OCI will work with the DOL’s various agencies (OSHA, Wage and Hour Division, Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, etc.) to coordinate and strengthen compliance outreach.
OCI’s first accomplishment was launching two websites, designed to help workers and employers with compliance questions. Worker.gov provides a centralized base of information focused on worker protections. Employer.gov gives employers easy-to-understand information about their responsibilities under federal laws and regulations.
According to the DOL, OCI’s work will include:
- Facilitating and encouraging a culture that promotes compliance assistance;
- 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 better compliance and enforcement strategies; and
- Enhancing outreach to stakeholders for the Department’s enforcement agencies.
