ISSA: Updates from the Leading Association for the Cleaning Industry Worldwide

DOL Launches Compliance Portal
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has launched a new Compliance Assistance Web Portal, designed to help employers understand and comply with federal employment laws and regulations.

Located at www.dol.gov/compliance, the portal is an enhanced, more user-friendly version of the previous Web site. A central gateway to “all things compliance assistance,” the intuitive portal directs users to easy-to-navigate information including e-tools, fact sheets on a variety of employment law issues, regulatory text, frequently asked questions, and a wealth of additional compliance assistance information provided by DOL agencies. In addition, users will find links to an assistance mailbox, compliancehelp@dol.gov, and to a compliance assistance e-mail subscription service that updates subscribers every time there is significant compliance news.

The portal also features an improved navigation scheme to allow searches by topic or by audience; users need not know the name of a particular law to locate key information. The new portal also guides users to information outside DOL’s jurisdiction. For example, even though DOL doesn’t regulate certain equal opportunity laws, it will direct a user to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission when appropriate. The site also informs users if there is no federal law that covers a particular issue.

The Compliance Assistance Portal also directs users to the department’s collection of compliance assistance tools, including the DOL Toll-Free Help Line and the e-laws Advisors, interactive online tools that help clarify employment laws. In addition, the portal links to the DOL online Employment Law Guide, which has been updated to reflect new and revised regulatory information.

It’s an ongoing challenge for building service contractors to motivate veteran staff and train newcomers. By using the Buddy Training System, it’s possible to effectively boost employee morale and provide training in a productive and cost-effective manner.

What to do:

• Using the professionals already on staff, involve them in one-on-one training and development of newcomers.
  
  
• Prepare clear guidelines of skills and knowledge required to achieve Buddy Trainer status. For example, to qualify a person may need to have been employed with the company for a specific length of time or pass a product and procedures quiz.
  
  
• The buddy trainers are given objectives and outcomes that trainees have to implement to achieve expected results throughout a specified training period.
  
  
• Once veteran employees have met the criteria successfully, they then receive a certificate, a small bonus, and the opportunity to be involved in buddy training again.

Benefits:

• Gives recognition for the talents and abilities of the buddy trainer.
  
  
• Extends an opportunity to those who are motivated by extra responsibility.
  
  
• Provides valuable how to and on-the-job training.
  
  

ISSA/INTERCLEAN^® USA
Rudolph Giuliani
2006 Keynote Speaker
Rudolph W. Giuliani, former mayor of New York City, NY, and best-selling author of the book Leadership, will present the keynote address at ISSA/INTERCLEAN USA 2006, October 4-7, at McCormick Place South, Chicago, IL.

Giuliani will discuss Principles of Leadership, at 8:30 a.m., Thursday, October 5. He will recount the lessons he has gleaned from more than 30 years in public service and management roles, and how he drew on that experience to provide leadership during one of the most defining moments in modern U.S. history. Keynote entry is included with your tradeshow badge.

ISSA has committed $50,000 to the Cleaning Industry Research Institute (CIRI) to help underwrite CIRI’s Scientific Advisory Council, a permanent committee established to provide expert guidance, advice, and analysis on principles, concepts, and research related to cleaning science.

Kaivac, Inc., Hamilton,OH, a manufacturer of “no-touch” cleaning equipment and ISSA member, also donated $50,000 to the CIRI Council, bringing the total to $100,000.