Rewards at Work

Running head: US DEPARTMENT OF LABOR CASE STUDY 1

US DEPARTMENT OF LABOR CASE STUDY 6

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Institution

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US Department of Labor Case Study

Introduction

The US Department of Labor (DOL) website describes features of the services that DOL offers regarding US labor laws, employee benefits, and labor organizations. DOL is a regulatory agency that governs and enforces various federal laws including FLSA (Fair Labor Standards) of 1938, Equal Pay Act of 1963, FLMA (Family and Medical Act) of 1993, and ERISA (Employee Retirement Income Security Act) (Handbook, 2006). It is essential to note that the enforcement of these laws is a way of promoting and protecting the rights of workers. The current analysis will explore the features of the DOL website and discuss how each feature may be used to monitor employee benefit rights. Additionally, the analysis will review how employers verify how employee benefits comply with federal laws and how employees can use this information to ensure that their benefits are protected. Finally, the analysis will create an outline that can be used to orient others to its usefulness for regulatory compliance.

Major Features of the Website

The DOL website contains virtually all information about labor and other related areas that can be used to analyze other information. For instance, a visitor can use the FAQs (frequently asked questions) feature to analyze information on other employee benefits. The major features of the website include navigation links on different titles of interest, resources to search from, news and reports, sampled questions from the visitors of the website, statistical data, and additional information such as events calendar and contact information. From the main navigation area, a visitor can browse through different topics of interest that are listed under topic, audience, location, and agency.

The topics of interest that are found on the navigation helps a visitor to monitor employees’ benefits by offering a broad avenue through which one can educate himself on the specific benefits, laws that protect him, as well as relevant groups near him where he can seek help from. The ‘Resources’ button offers secondary information sourced from other state departments and related topics. An employee can utilize the resources to establish several issues regarding their benefits by comparing information from different sources ("Health Plans & Benefits", 2017).

The sampled question under the FAQs button responds to questions raised by visitors and offers general information on issues perceived valuable to visitors. The FAQs area is useful to employees since it helps them to learn about the nature of their benefits program and ensure that their rights are not violated. The news and reports section updates the visitors of the website on issues related to labor. The latest statistical figures complement the news and reports section. Both features update users on the changes as well as latest developments relating to legislations and rates about their benefits ("Health Plans & Benefits", 2017). Additional information such as a variety of contact information, events calendar, information from DOL blog, and access to email updates inform users on benefits program.

Verifying Employee Benefits

An employer maintains the benefit plan offered by a union or offers an alternative plan. The benefit plan should protect the rights of the employees by complying with the instituted benefit plans laws and taxation plans. Indeed, employers have a duty to ensure compliance with the set regulations. Therefore, an employer ought to check with organizations and government institutions to determine the practices that have to comply with the federal requirements. Bodies that provide compliance contain the necessary information concerning compliance. The DOL website helps employers to locate information through the compliance assistance link or the attached resources. The Compliance Assistance link redirects to various organizations mandated to provide, maintain, and uphold employee benefits as stipulated by the law.

The DOL website affirms that and ERISA (Employee Retirement Income Security Act) has the mandate to cover benefits plan, provide information the benefit plans, and ensure that those who manage the benefits plans satisfy the required standards (Wooten, 2004). Besides, the website offers various compliance assistance materials including ERISA provisions, various Acts, benefits and claims appeals procedures, and several disclosure procedures. The DOL website highlights that EBSA (Employee Benefits Security Administration) is responsible for administering and enforcing the provisions of ERISA. FLSA (Fair Labor Standards Act) does not address benefits like long-term care insurance, life insurance, or wellness benefits ("Health Plans & Benefits", 2017). Such benefits are because of agreement between employers and employees or a representative of the employees. An employer who scrutinizes the website thoroughly can verify the compliance of the benefits plan that he or she provides.

How Employees can use the Website

Employees can utilize the vast information provided on the website to ensure that the employers they work for compliance with the federal requirements and that their rights are protected against infringement. Moreover, employees familiarize themselves with the various support bodies as well as the laid procedures of seeking redress in case their rights are violated. Indeed, the compliance assistance materials provided educate an employee on various materials including ERISA provision, continuation coverage (COBRA), and answers related to FAQs. Besides, employers learn the effect of ERISA regulations on the state and federal laws. For instance, the DOL website explains that a group health plan is a benefit plan that is established by an employer or an employee organization ("Health Plans & Benefits", 2017). A group health plan provides medical care for employees or their dependents directly or through reimbursement or insurance.

An employee who understands the ERISA provisions and the stipulated procedures for accessing health coverage under federal and state laws can ensure that his or her rights are protected. Also, the information helps such an employee while seeking redress when he or she feels that benefits rights have been violated. An employee should understand the procedure of claiming benefits and appeals (Haar & Kossack, 1990). In this way, a broad and informed understanding on matters regarding employee benefits enables employees to ensure that their rights are protected.

Outline for the Website

The DOL website provides support to employers and employees. It helps the employers and employees to keep up with the ever-evolving laws and regulations that govern employees’ benefits by providing expert support (Hewitt, 2012). Expert support helps in lowering the risk of liability caused by avoidable errors or non-compliance. The DOL website serves as a reliable source since it provides primary updates. Employers who navigate through the relevant rinks can assess their compliance and utilize the information to mitigate risks. It also helps employers to resolve immediate non-compliance concerns. The homepage of the DOL website provides freely shared and continuously monitored information on regulations, laws, rules, and guidance including web page links, picture highlights, videos, and pdf files. Such information includes ERISA provisions, Affordable Care Act, USERRA, and HIPAA.

From the homepage of the DOL website, compliance information is provided under several labels with titles that serve as direct links to relevant information. A visitor can access compliance information by clicking on tiled links, listed resources, news and reports, updated information and the FAQs links. Alternatively, a visitor can make a direct contact through phone or email. The most valuable links on compliance information can be sought by navigating the ‘Browse’ feature. Here, a visitor can navigate from the main homepage into the ‘Compliance Assistance’ page, the ‘Health plans and benefits’ page, and employment laws advisers’ homepage.

Conclusion

The current analysis sought to explore the features of the DOL website and discuss how each feature could be used to monitor employee benefit rights. The major features of the website include navigation links on different titles of interest, resources to search from, news and reports, sampled questions from the visitors of the website, statistical data, and additional information such as events calendar and contact information. For instance, the topics of interest help visitors to monitor employees’ benefits by offering a broad avenue through which one can educate himself on the specific benefits, laws that protect him, as well as relevant groups near him.

The current analysis also sought to review how employers verify how employee benefits comply with federal laws and how employees can use this information to ensure that their benefits are protected. The DOL website helps employers to locate information through the compliance assistance link or the attached resources. Again, the website offers broad and informed understanding on matters regarding employee benefits to enable employees to ensure that their rights are protected. Finally, the analysis has created an outline that can be used to orient others to its usefulness for regulatory compliance.

References

Haar, J., & Kossack, S. (1990). Employee benefit packages: How understandable are they?. The Journal of Business Communication (1973), 27(2), 185-200.

Handbook, O. O. (2006). US Department of Labor. Bureau of Labor Statistics (Retrieved from the WWW on October 22, 2006 http://www. bls. gov/oco/ocos007. htm).

Health Plans & Benefits. (2017). United States Department of Labor. Retrieved 26 August 2017, from https://www.dol.gov/general/topic/health-plans

Hewitt, A. (2012). 2012 Trends in global employee Engagement. Aon Hewitt Corp, 18.

Wooten, J. (2004). The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974: A Political History (Vol. 11). Univ of California Press.