The DOL recently updated its Employment Law Guide, giving employers new information regarding the laws the agency enforces.

The new version includes info on recent legal developments, such as minimum wage increases and updates to the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). Other topics covered include child labor laws, overtime payment and workplace safety regulations.

Access the Guide here.

If the answer to either question is yes, the fsafeds.com Web site could be of assistance.

The site alphabetically lists an array of common medical and dependent care expenses and indicates whether related claims are FSA-eligible. It also provides specific examples of situations in which borderline claims are eligible for reimbursement.

https://www.fsafeds.com/fsafeds/eligibleexpenses.asp

Even seasoned benefits managers sometimes run across acronyms they’ve never seen before. For instance, do you know what a DROP is? Have you ever seen a COCC?  Chances are, you have (even if you don’t refer to it by the shorthand).

 A DROP is a deferred retirement option plan. A COCC is a certificate of creditable coverage for purposes of ensuring pre-existing conditions are covered.

Benefits Counsel has put together a special Web site that does nothing but list common and obscure benefits acronyms, explain what they stand for, and in some cases provide links for more information.

Recovery.org is a Seattle-based, public company that tracks government spending at every level. It has up-to-date figures on where economic stimulus funds are going based on state, county, and industry (it also provides exact dollar amounts).

From a business perspective, there are two payoffs:

1. You can see which industries and regions received the most, so Sales can target prospects in those markets.

2. You’ll know how much local or state stimulus money has been put aside for your industry, so you can request some of those funds before local officials are flooded with petitions from your competitors.

Finally, the site allows you to filter results by “Project Type,” so you can even see what funds have already been specifically allocated for public works programs, private businesses, and job creation in your region.

The sooner you know which prospects have a windfall of money in their budgets, the more of a head start you have on competitors who probably won’t know that info for months to come.

For a complete breakdown of stimulus allocations, go to www.recovery.org.

Site name: GlassDoor.

URL: http://www.glassdoor.com/index.htm

Who runs it: Sausalito, CA-based GlassDoor

What it provides: At the time we tested the site, it advertised it was in beta, but that will probably change, since the company just announced that it just raised $6.5 million in venture capital — a mere droplet in the sea of venture-capital bucks, but still a good sign that the site is progressing.

Right now, for starters, you can access in-house appraisals of what it’s like to work for many of the major employers in the United States, posted by people who actually work for those companies. The site’s public-relations blurb says the number of companies is 14,000 and rising.  That means if you’re looking for a job or want to know what it’s like at a competitor, you can get the inside scoop.

Other fun stuff that falls into the category of softcore corporate voyeurism: You can look up what insiders have to say about the top people at some of the major firms. For instance, put “Yahoo” in the search box and you’ll get a review of CEO and Director Jerry Yang (who turned down a bazillion-dollar buyout from Microsoft). He gets a 36% approval rating, and the company overall score 3.4 on a scale of 1 to 5. There’s some real nitty-gritty commentary about other companies, too, such as “we hold too many meetings.” Who doesn’t?

OK, here’s the cool part. By clicking on the “Salaries” tab, you can also look at some of those companies and see what they’re paying people like you. Or you can post your salary anonymously, along with some registration information, and see what the range and average is nationwide.

We entered a salary and sought more information, but had to wait a couple of hours after completing the registration before getting the activation e-mail. That could have been because of our e-mail system or the fact that they’re still fine-tuning the in-beta Web site. Sometimes, this stuff happens, but it’ll probably happen less when they start spending that $6.5 million.

Site name: CriminalSearches. 

URL: http://www.criminalsearches.com/ 

Who runs it: Sacramento-based PeopleFinders 

What it provides: Before we get into that, let’s stipulate that when we tested the site, it advertised that it was in beta – which, as you probably know, is a “get-out-of-jail-free card” (no pun intended) for all boo-boos on the Web site. The developers admit there may be mistakes and oversights, and ask for our forbearance while they test and work things out. 

Anyway, the sight is supposed to provide a search engine in which you enter a person’s name and choose any or all states in which that person may have committed a crime. Then you get a list of offenses tied to that person’s name. The offenses are coded into seven types: “Behavioral,” “Business,” “Drug & Alcohol,” Sex Related,” “Theft and Robbery,” “Violent” and “Traffic/Other.” 

OK, there’s really only one way to test something like this: Enter the name and state residence of someone you know who has a criminal record, and see what you get back. So that’s what we did. Never mind who the person was, or how we know the person. 

Here’s what happened: The search engine spit out the person’s name, date of birth and the date of an offense – a five-year-old traffic violation. That probably was accurate, but it overlooked and didn’t list a drug felony conviction that took place around the same time. Hmmm. 

The flaw in something like this is obvious. If it’s wrong just once, the entire site loses any value to the user, although maybe it could serve as a backup to other background checks you might do. Also, we’ll underscore again that the developers clearly indicated the site was in beta, so maybe the best advice we can give is for you to check back on the site in the future and test it yourself. Of course, not that you’d know anyone with a criminal record.

Site name: All About Benefits. 

URL: www.allaboutthebenefits.com/ 

Who runs it: Aetna 

What it provides: The site bills itself as a resource for people who are just out of school and trying to make healthcare-coverage decisions in the decidedly less-than-user-friendly world of health coverage. However, it can be a helpful to just about anyone who doesn’t know a lot about health coverage – the terms, the options, the pitfalls. 

The home page has five major tabs – “Let the job hunt begin,” “Budgeting for your health,” “Work it! How to enroll,” “Raise your health benefits IQ” and “School’s out forever, now what?”  

All are helpful in one way or another, but “Budgeting for your health” and “Raise your health benefits IQ” seem to have the most pertinent info. 

Budgeting for your health provides more than just how much coverage costs and how to pay for it. The page provides a dozen key questions that everyone should ask when getting health coverage. It’s not that the reader will be happy with every answer, but at least there will be fewer surprises when using coverage. 

For instance, the section suggests that you ask about the ease (or difficulty) of getting out-of-network treatment – and in fact explains in simple terms what a “network” is. 

Raise your health benefits IQ describes so-called “well” benefits, wellness, and HSAs and FSAs, among other topics. It also has a page that lists 10 common costly mistakes that people make when signing up for or using health coverage. 

Note: As mentioned, the site is a product of Aetna Corp., which of course offers health coverage. To its credit, though, the company doesn’t inundate you with appeals to sign up with Aetna, nor does it trumpet Aetna as the best choice for coverage. Yes, there are Aetna ads slapped up here and there, but they’re no more obtrusive or annoying than most Web ads (such as the ones on this site).

Site name: Consumer Reports Best Buy Drugs. 

URL: www.consumerreports.org/health/best-buy-drugs/index.htm 

Who runs it: Consumers Union 

What it provides: It’s hard to know where to start, since this site contains so much information. But let’s begin with a neat categorization section where you can search by Condition or by Drug.

So, for instance, if you wgo to Condition and click on Heartburn, you’ll get an essay on all the possible treatments and which one might be best for you.

Or if you go to Drug and click on Ambien, you’ll get information on what types of insomnia are best treated with the drug, what the alternatives are, and what you should expect to pay for the drug.

All in all there are dozens of Condition and Drug categories, arranged alphabetically.

The site also contains a section called Money Saving Guides, consisting of PDFs on varied cost-related topics such as “Generic Drugs” and “Assistance Programs.”

There’s lots more, some of which is taken right from the pages of the company’s subscription-driven magazine. All good stuff on this site – and you can’t beat the price.

Site name: EY Insight.

URL: www.ey.com/eyinsight/index.html

Who runs it: Ernst & Young

What it provides: You get a sharp model for Web page that attracts good people and makes your company look good.

To begin with, though, let’s realize that Ernst & Young is the giant accounting and management firm that has about a bazillion dollars to spend on stuff like this. And that’s the beauty of the Web site. You could do it. Heck, I could do it. Sure, the site has a few platinum bells and whistles, like fancy video, but the basics are just that – basic.

The intro page has just three main links: “EY 360,” “Picture Yourself” and “Interview Insider.”

EY 360 links to profiles of about a dozen “typical” EY employees, with pictures, biographies and personal touches. (Ex.: “I’m a serious reality-TV junkie.”) You also get a look at what the normal working and off-work day is like for each person.

Picture Yourself has a nice feature where you choose your college major or interest, and then you’re shown what types of jobs you’re likely to fill at EY. It’s a great answer to the question “I wonder if they need someone like me?”

Interview Insider is essentially a primer for nailing the interview with EY. The feature focuses on the “ The 3 P’s” of an interview — Preparation, Performance and Punctuation. They tell the site visitors what’s expected of them before, during and after the interview. Some of it’s kind of “duh” stuff, like “Shut off your cell phone during the interview.” Then, again, if you’ve ever interviewed people, you know maybe that’s not so basic.

The staff at HR Morning really liked the EY site. I think half of them applied for jobs there.

Site name: Jackson Lewis

URL: www.jacksonlewis.com

Who runs it: The national law firm of Jackson Lewis

What it provides: A lot of stuff, but the real gold of the site comes in its information on updates to state laws.

Before you can use the site, you’ll have to complete the registration – e-mail address, password verification and the usual demographic info. After that, you’re free to kick around the site and brush up on a bunch of legal information, much of which is a pitch to call the firm’s lawyers for help (and generation of billable hours).

Our advice: Skip most of it, and click on Legal Updates on the top toolbar. You’ll get a drop-down box.  The two links you’re interested in are “By Location” and “Newsletters.”

By Location hooks you up to employment-law updates for 20 states and the District of Columbia. Newsletters offers you a PDF download of various publications covering employment law by state and region.

Need to know New Jersey’s latest state law covering employee e-mail use? It’s in there. Or how about Florida’s rules on how employers must deal with domestic violence? Covered. Or Massachusetts’ regulations on protecting your employees from ID theft? Read all about it.

The catch here is that the site omits a bunch of states – probably the ones that don’t have Jackson Lewis offices in them. To save you some time, here’s a list of the states covered as of this writing:

AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, HA, IL, MA, MD, MN, NC, ND, NJ, NY, OH, OR, PA, SC, TX.