Compliance Management
February 1, 2023
“Compliance” refers to an organization meeting its legal obligations, that is, obeying the laws and regulations that mandate how it manages its business, staff, and treatment of its customers. A responsible organization is a legally compliant one.
Organizations are subject to many laws and regulations regarding their workers, such as hiring, firing, discrimination, harassment, safety, wages, payroll, and benefits. How they manufacture or sell their products or services might be regulated by a particular government agency, such as a restaurant doing business under the auspices of the health department.
Legal compliance is more easily managed when there’s a compliance management system (CMS) in place to avoid legal and financial penalties, security breaches, and damage to an organization’s reputation. A CMS provides tools such as written documents, helps organizations manage risk and maintain compliance with regulations, and helps to avoid noncompliance by providing employees with what they need to know to follow the rules.
To remain compliant, it’s crucial to provide managers and supervisors with adequate training that provides both organization policies, standards, and procedures, and federal, state, and local laws and regulations. Management training should include EEO regulations and guidelines, as well as how to respond to discrimination and harassment complaints and the illegality of retaliation for participating in a complaint.
Employees benefit from being presented with examples of misconduct based on issues in the workplace. It should be made clear that the examples show bad behavior that’s illegal and will not be tolerated. Warn all employees that misconduct found to violate organization policy can result in discipline, including termination.
The benefits of compliance for an organization include the avoidance of lawsuits and noncompliance fines, enhanced reputation, and better employee morale and retention. Putting effort into compliance management is well worth it.