Understanding and keeping abreast of the continuous changes of employment laws is a must for human resources (HR) employees and recruiting professionals, as failure to identify and follow regulations can cause legal liabilities and risk. In order to stay aware of the issues and developments that may change a business, steps can be taken that encourage further staff development.

Organizations

The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) is the world’s largest professional society for human resource specialists. Membership provides opportunities to:

• Network
• Share information about practices
• Meet in local organizations for face-to-face contact
• Communicate with other professionals through online discussions
• Obtain website information
• Attend conferences
• Participate in educational seminars
• Complete coursework and certification preparation through e-learning opportunities

SHRM does not offer specific legal advice, but can provide information for research that covers employment law topics such as:

• Benefits
• Compensation
• Employee relations
• Ethics
• Labor relations
• Safety
• Federal and state employment law information
• Employment law updates

Online Information

Information can be readily found on the internet. For example, the Department of Labor (DOL) website provides an immense amount of material that focuses on issues dealing with employment, and offers the ability to search for answers to questions that relate specifically to employment laws. Employees can also subscribe to the DOL newsletter, which can be sent directly to their computer to provide current event updates and news releases. Information covered may include employment topics such as:

• Applications
• Interviews
• Hiring
• Wage and hour laws
• Personnel policies
• Employee benefits
• Employee taxes and payroll
• Performance reviews
• Discipline
• Termination
• Healthcare
• Family and medical leave
• Discrimination and harassment
• Privacy

Another helpful online device offered by the DOL is the ability to connect to the employment law assistance library, referred to as elaws. This website offers interactive information that helps to explain the rights and responsibilities for employers and employees under federal employment laws. The information in this website tool begins following the selection of a topic, and once question prompts are asked, the interaction continues based upon the answer choices.
The elaws advisor site offers a comprehensive list of employment laws and includes such topics as:

• Disability Nondiscrimination Law Advisor
• Fair Labor Standards Act Advisor
• Family & Medical Leave Act Advisor
• Uniformed Services Employment & Reemployment Rights Act Advisor.

The site also offers help to companies in regard to poster regulations. The FirstStep Poster Advisor walks an employer through question prompted steps to determine which federal DOL regulations the business is required to post. Once the choices are established, the site then offers the ability to print the posters for instant display.

The elaws tool website can be found at: http://www.dol.gov/elaws/.

In order to understand the laws and regulations that can have an impact on a company, it is important to be able to develop a level of expertise within the topic. Technology now provides easy access to utilizing resources and opening communication lines. Employees that take advantage of the information that is at their fingertips will increase their understanding and provide a benefit to the company. 

Looking for more information about employment laws and company responsibilities? Connect with a Covetrus representative today at 855.724.3461.