The U.S. Department of Labor announced today the availability of an updated version of its popular Employment Law Guide, an online publication that describes the major employment laws administered by the department.  The Guide helps the public — workers and employers — understand many of the laws affecting the workplace.  It helps small businesses develop wage, benefit, safety and health, and nondiscrimination policies and benefits employees and employee representatives who need information about worker rights and responsibilities under federal employment laws.

The Employment Law Guide is a companion to the department’s FirstStep overview advisor, an online system that allows employers to quickly and easily determine which federal employment laws apply to them by answering a few simple questions about relevant variables.  Together, the updated Employment Law Guide and the FirstStep overview advisor offer employers the information they need to ensure safe and fair workplace policies and practices.  Both are available at http://www.dol.gov/elaws or http://www.dol.gov/compliance.