Features on the United States Department of Labor Website - Research Paper Example

United s Department of Labor Case Study Introduction The rationale of this essay is the analysis of the information providedin the United States department of labor website. Primarily, the website provides information on the prevailing regulations and used by the federal government to meet the employee benefits in the workplace. The essay offers a description on the features of the website and their usefulness to the employer and employees and how it can be used to monitor employee benefits. However, the major focus being how the benefits comply with the federal laws in relation to labor and details on hoe employees can use the data to ensure the benefits protection. The data available on the website was obtained through the occupational Information Network and the National Labor Exchange (U.S. Department of Labor, 2014). The OINC provides information on the skills and employment requirements for vast occupations in the US. The NLE, on the other hand, comprises of Direct Employers Association and delivers information on the job requirements of various US corporations. Thus, the website provides a reliable documentation of labor benefits in the federal government regulations. Features on the website The first feature is the fact that the website is primarily about the United States department of labor. This implies that the information available on the website is all about labor and employee welfare in the United States (U.S. Department of Labor, 2014). The second feature is that the website gives an outline of all the employee benefits inclusive of their details. It clearly indicates what benefits the employees have and the conditions needed to be met for the benefit to suit the particular employee. For example, the website indicates that The Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) requires that the employee’s health plan should observe a group health plan approach. The third feature is that the websites provides links to other websites that give more information related to the employee welfare. For example, some of the links provided in the website offer the reader information on the COBRA continuation coverage assistance under the American recovery and reinvestment act of 2009 among others. The fourth feature is that the website is simple and easy to understand and navigate its contents. The fifth feature is the fact that the website provides its information through other strategies such as the creation of tabs that allow the reader to navigate the various pages in the website. For example, the general arrangement of the website context favors all the audience by providing information either by topic or by audience. Monitor the employee benefits The website can be used to monitor the employee benefits in that it gives information on all employee related issues regardless of engagement industry. Thus, the websites acts as a point of reference on the labor issues in the US; both the employees and employers can access the information from the website and determine whether their benefits are met or not met. The links in the website provides the reader or the employees and employers a chance to compare whether the organization policies meet the desired conditions. The website being simple and easy to understand implies that even the incompetent computer users can easily identify what they need from the website and compare to their performance. Thus, the website is easy to use and hence both the involved parties can monitor the employee monitor the employee benefits in the minimum cost possible. On the topic perspective it gives information on the general overview of the employee welfare including wages, unemployment insurance, health plans and benefits among others. Under the audience, it sorts the human resource to categories such as jobseekers or the unemployed, employers and workers among others. These among other provisions are on the website and hence offering the employers and employees the most sufficient information required in monitoring the employee benefits in a given organization. How employers could verify that their employee benefits comply with all federal laws The employers can use the information provided on the website to verify the employee benefits compliance with the federal law (Streeter, Library of Congress, & Capitol.Net, Inc, 2010). For example, the data enables the employer realize the various strategies to offer the employees their benefits, identify the employees entitled to the benefits and what benefits must be covered and by whom (U.S. Department of Labor, 2014). COBRA’s principle role is to offer provisions on the “employees, retirees, spouses, the spouse’s relations and their dependents among others. In its mandate, COBRA plays a significant role in health coverage on the employees and their immediate relatives with their approach being through the group health coverage approach. In this approach, the employer pay part of the premium for the active employees and other participants settle the entire premiums. Thus, the employer realizes the most crucial strategy to provide the employee benefits. Further, the employers can identify the employees entitled to benefits. For example, COBRA provisions ascertain that the employers with more than 20 employees need to provide the employees COBRA coverage and notify of employees of the cover availability (McHugh & Hildebrandt, 1981). Often, the cover is applied in plans maintained in the public, private and state and local government sponsorships. Essentially, three elements determine qualification to benefits under COBRA including plan coverage, qualified beneficiaries and the qualifying events. The qualified beneficiaries are often the employees covered by a group health plan and can be an employee, the employee’s spouse and the employee’s child among others. Additionally, any child born in the COBRA cover habitually meets the criteria to the program. Other qualified receiver may comprise of “agents, independent contractors and directors participating in the group health plan” (U.S. Department of Labor, 2014). The qualifying events are the events leading to a termination their health cover. The event often determines the affected beneficiary and the time needed to plan on their health coverage. This information enables the employer determine the benefits covered and by who for the purpose of making a follow up on the issue. For example, “the first premium must be paid in the first 45 days after the day of election of COBRA election by the beneficiary” (U.S. Department of Labor, 2014). Several other provisions are indicated in the COBRA documentations and all this links are provided on the website. Therefore, a conclusion can be made that using the information, the employer may determine the various strategies to offer the employees their benefits, identify the employees entitled to the benefits and what benefits must be covered and who provides the premiums to the benefits. To ensure that the employers meet the requirements towards employees in relation to COBRA provisions, several government agencies work together to ensure its effectiveness. For example, the federal government’s labor department has a responsibility to interpret and regulate its provisions. “The department of labor and treasury has control over private sector and health group plans. In addition, the department of health and human resource services administers the continuation of coverage law and its effects on public sector health plans” (U.S. Department of Labor, 2014). This and other government bodies push the employer to ensure that they meet the statutory requirements to their employees. How employees would use this information to ensure their benefits rights are protected The employees, on the other hand, can use the information available in the website to ensure that their benefits are met by their immediate employer. For example, the information on the website allows the employees realize what benefits they qualify for, who pay for the benefits and the measures they should take in demand for their rights. The website provides a detailed coverage on the requirements for the employees to qualify for the COBRA health cover. This information gives the employees the evidence to file their complaints with the immediate boss when they realize that they are not provided for the health cover stipulated by the federal government. Thus, the employees understand the difference between qualified and non-qualified parties in regards to COBRA provisions (U.S. Department of Labor, 2014). Additionally, the employees can identify the persons responsible for sponsoring the fees for their health cover. They identify the amount the employee needs to contribute towards the health cover if need be and how much the employer contributes. This knowledge is crucial in that the employee can realize the level at which the employer infringes on their rights and benefits. COBRA clearly indicates the percentages on the contributions towards the benefits and who primarily contributes the finances and when it needs to be paid (U.S. Department of Labor; Fact Sheet, 2014). Essentially, the websites offers the necessary measures the employee needs to use to make a follow up in case the employer takes away their rights. For instance, the qualified beneficiaries must have similar coverage and treatment as active employees. They all should be treated in a similar manner without any form of discrimination. The website provides the participants rights, mental health benefits, women’s health and cancer rights, fiduciary responsibilities and other crucial information (U.S. Department of Labor; participant rights, 2014).. Thus, any employee can realize a breach on their rights and take the necessary measure when need be to ensure that their rights as employees are facilitated. Some of the solutions to a breach of their rights include court proceedings and government interventions to ensure that the employee rights in the given organizations are met. Conclusion In the federal government, the employee health rights are a requirement in the employment sector not a mere benefit. It is for this reason that the federal government necessitated the creation of COBRA, a body that seeks to ensure that the employee rights are met in the workplace. The United States department labor website provides the information necessary to both the employees and employers in relation to health rights of the employees. The information enables the employees realize whether the employee benefits comply with the federal laws. The employees, on the other hand, can establish if their benefits are protected. Thus, the information on the website and its simplicity offers crucial data to both the employer and the employee in relation to the health rights of the employees and their consequent beneficiaries. References McHugh W. & Hildebrandt S. (1981). Summary of key hospital-related provisions of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981. Health law vigil, 4(17), 1-5. Streeter, S., Library of Congress, & Capitol.Net, Inc (2010). The federal budget process: A description of the federal and congressional budget processes, including timelines. Alexandria, Va: Capitol.Net. U.S. Department of Labor (2014). Fact Sheet: Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act. Retrieved February 28, 2014, from http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/newsroom/fscobra.html U.S. Department of Labor (2014). U.S. Department of Labor - Find It By Topic - Health Plans - Participant Rights. Retrieved February 28, 2014, from http://www.dol.gov/dol/topic/health-plans/participantrights.htm U.S. Department of Labor (2014). U.S. Department of Labor - Find It By Topic - Health Plans & Benefits - Continuation of Health Coverage – COBRA. Retrieved February 28, 2014, from http://www.dol.gov/dol/topic/health-plans/cobra.htm Read More