No matter the industry, all companies have a series of laws and regulations they need to adhere to. These cover all sorts of topics including health, safety, finance, security and more. All companies need to adhere to these or else they risk facing fines, regulatory action, or worse. By making sure that your business is adhering to these you are making sure that you are in compliance. This is called compliance management, and it is important for all companies to institute. There is a lot that goes into compliance management – let us look into the specifics of it.
Being in compliance is when your business is adhering to all the rules assigned to it. These can come from state/federal legislations, regulatory bodies, and contracts that you have with other organizations. As a broad definition, compliance management is all the processes and steps that your company follows to keep compliance. Compliance management is made up of a variety of procedures, policies, audits, security controls, documentation, and tech enforcement. These are all used to track what employees in your company are doing and whether your company is remaining in compliance. As a rule, your company should have a detailed and structured plan for ensuring that all aspects of your business are compliant. This includes looking into and updating said plan in regards to changes in laws, new contracts, and new regulations from the following regulatory bodies (depending on your industry/field):
First, businesses need compliance management so they can continue running. If your business is found to be noncompliant enough times it might get shut down. While that is an extreme example, it is not an unthinkable one. What usually happens when a business is found to be out of compliance is that they face fines or fees (whether they are out of compliance with regulatory bodies or contracts) of varying amounts. These fines can have varying levels of impact on your business but all of them spell bad news. Having to pay fines and fees can hurt your company’s ability to function and cause damage to your reputation. It should be pretty apparent that your company needs to avoid this.
Being compliant is important, but it can be difficult at times. Your business needs to invest in comprehensive compliance management to keep on top of everything. There are so many aspects of compliance that you need to keep track of. If you are not actively keeping up with the different areas, you need to be compliant in you will quickly find yourself falling out of compliance. Let’s look at some of the more common compliance issues your company might face to show you why you need compliance management.
The Federal Labor Standards Act lays down a series of strict requirements for worker hours and wages. These are mandatory minimums for hours worked, overtimes, wages, child labor, mealtimes, and more. Individual states also have minimums and standards for wages and hours. While most companies don’t have to worry about this, larger companies should keep this in mind as they work and operate across state lines.
It should not be hard to remain compliant with anti-discrimination laws. These prevent employers from discriminating against people based on age, gender, race, disability, or ethnicity. These laws are incredibly strict. Violating them can open your company up to a myriad of fines, fees, and lawsuits. That is why it is vital that your company remain compliant with anti-discrimination laws.
Many companies are working on increasing diversity in the workplace. For some businesses this includes hiring immigrant workers. It is important that your company is adhering to the proper laws when it comes to hiring immigrant workers or overseas professionals. There are multiple laws and acts that you need to follow about this.
This is one of the major compliance issues that your company should be concerned with. Over the years government agencies and regulatory bodies have created a wide range of rules and regulations for keeping your employees safe. It is incredibly important that your company adhere to these rules so employees do not get hurt and your company does not face any major issues such as lawsuits and regulatory action.
Compliance management is an important part of your company’s ability to function. Without investing the time and effort into tools and resources to maintain compliance your company might face major issues. That’s where a compliance management system comes in. A compliance management tool can help your company stay compliant so you don’t face regulatory action.