CHANGES IN ENFORCEMENT FOCUS COMING TO THE U. S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.

With the election of a new president and a new majority in the legislative branch, employers subject to laws and regulations administered by the United States Department of Labor (DOL) should be preparing for a number of changes. In June of 2009, new U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis, addressing a National Policy Forum in Washington, D.C. stated that under her watch, "enforcement of our labor laws will be intensified" (Gurchiek, 2009). While vowing to not completely eliminate voluntary compliance programs initiated by her predecessor, the main focus of the DOL will turn from voluntary compliance programs to enforcement (Leonard, 2009). The purpose of this paper is to identify aspects of DOL's enforcement efforts that employers can expect to see in the near term and policy and practice suggestions to facilitate compliance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]