| Finding Employment-related and Payroll Information on the Internet previous page January 20, 2004 1. Introduction. Much information is accessible on the Internet that can support the management accountant, and others, in performing a company’s personnel payment and benefit-related functions, and ensuring a good employment (human relations) program. Good performance of these functions, and a good employment program, is important. This performance can be enhanced by efficient and effective access to available Internet information. The Internet has become a very valuable source of information on these topics. The purpose of this article is to identify Internet sites with information that might be needed by a company in its payroll, benefits, and other employment functions and programs. Websites that have been identified in this article as containing potentially useful information are grouped into these subject areas: Employment law and regulatory compliance Benefits and compensation Payroll processing, including payroll taxes Mega sites – multi-topics Definitions and employment-related forms The rest of this article will identify and discuss sites judged to be useful in each of these areas. 2. Employment Law and Regulatory Compliance. Many government websites exist that are designed to assist company personnel in the tasks of managing a company to be in compliance with employment laws and regulations. The US Department of Labor (DOL) plays an important role in administering federal employment laws and has several sites to assist companies in complying with federal law. Most, if not all, of the DOL sites, related to compliance, can be accessed from the DOL page at www.dol.gov/dol/regs/main.htm. From this page, you can find compliance assistance for such federal labor laws as the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), and the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act. Assistance is not just in the form of information on the pages, but also interactive assistance - in the form of e-mail responses, telephone assistance, and electronic clicking through guidance and explanation. In addition to information on federal employment and labor laws, linked to from this site, you can also find information on federal acts, regulations, and rules related to health, retirement, and other employee benefits. You can also go directly to the home page, www.dol.gov/ebsa, of the agency within DOL, the Employee Benefits Security Administration, which has primary responsibility for enforcing, and providing compliance assistance on, federal benefits laws. Important benefit laws and acts include the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), and the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA). Examples of the report 5500, which has to be filed with the federal government by companies with benefit programs covered by federal law, can be accessed at this site www.freeerisa.com, maintained by freeERISA.com, LLC. Each state also has employment laws and regulations. From this DOL site, www.dol.gov/esa/contacts/state_of.htm, each state labor office website can be linked to. At these sites, information on such topics as state law minimum wage, overtime, required posters, forms, and reports, which need to be complied with according to state requirements, can be found. The California Chamber of Commerce maintains a site at www.hrcalifornia.com, which provides information on California labor laws. Information on safety compliance is also provided. Guidance is provided on writing an employee hank book. Union employees represent a unique employment class in terms of federal laws, rules, and regulations. A federal agency, The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), exists, that monitors compliance with these federal laws, rules, and regulations. Information on these laws can be accessed at the NLRB homepage, www.nlrb.gov/nlrb/home/default.asp. The basic federal act relating to unions and employers is the National Labor Relations Act, passed in the 1930s. The act has been amended many times. The initial act is often referred to as the Wagner act. A major amendment, the Labor Management Relations Act, passed in 1947. This amendment act is also known as he Taft Hartley Act. Cornell’s Legal Information Institute maintains a site at www.law.cornell.edu/topics/employment.html. From this site, an overview of such employment law topics as collective bargaining, employment discrimination, employment compensation, pensions, workplace safety, and worker’s compensation is provided. Links are provided to federal and state statutes, regulations, and judicial decisions. Several good mega websites exist, containing dozens of links to information on employment law. The Employment Law Information website, www.elinfonet.com, provides links to most federal employment laws and regulations. This site attempts to help company human resource personnel better understand and implement employment laws and regulations. Access to many employment-related contracts and forms are provided. Access is also provided to dozens of personnel and employment-related policies, such as attendance, cell phone use, e-mail use, employee conduct, flextime, sick leave, vacation, and many more. Two other websites, with lots of links to employment-related information, are Will Yancey’s site at www.willyancey.com/emp_law.htm and Carter McNamara’s site at www.mapnp.org/library/legal/emp_law/emp_law.htm. Yancey’s site has links to such information as benefits, labor standards, unemployment compensation, equal employment opportunity law, employee rights, labor management, and safety and health. Employment law information is also available on the Internet for countries other than the United States. At the United Nation’s International Labor Organization site, www.natlex.ilo.org, national laws on employment and social security, occupational safety and health, and labor management, and can be found. Guidance is provided on searching for national laws. A site search system is available. The Federation of European Employees maintains a site at www.fedee.com/index.shtml, with information on European Union and European employment law and rules. Much detailed European country-by-country information is available at this site, but unfortunately requires a fee. Dozens of links are provided. Employment laws and other employment-related information in the European Union (EU) and in EU countries can be accessed at the EU’s Employment and Social Affairs website, www.europa.eu.int/pol/socio/index_en.htm. Many country governments maintain employment policy and law websites. Examples of these sites are the United Kingdom’s Department of Trade and Industry Employment Relations Directorate site, www.dti.gov.uk/employment/index.html; Canada’s Department of Human Resources and Skills Development, www.hrsdc.gc.ca/en/home.shtml; and India’s Ministry of Labor site, www.labour.nic.in. The Governments on the WWW site, www.gksoft.com/govt/en, maintained by Gunnar Anzinger, has links to many country government labor (employment) departments’ websites. The Japan Institute for Labor Policy and Training maintains a site at www.jil.go.jp/english/index.html, which provides access to employment and labor information. Links are also provided to other employment-related Japanese and international websites. 3. Benefits and Compensation. Benefits and compensation is a major company cost and an area where really good decision-making is critical for the organization’s well being. The Internet can provide relevant information and data on topics and decisions related to benefits and compensation An excellent site containing much information on benefit plans is David Rhett Baker’s Benefitslink site at www.benefitslink.com/index.shtml. Hundreds of articles, links, and other sources provide extensive information on most topics related to benefits plans. The website has a search system. The site serves as a directory of information, with links available to dozens of benefit plan topics. The site’s administrators, with strong benefit plan backgrounds, categorize the selected links into the directory’s topics. Carter McNamara provides at this site, www.managementhelp.org/pay_ben/benefits/benefits.htm, links to sites containing benefit information. General categories are used to separate links and relate them according to how a benefits program might be managed. click here to go to the next and final page |