What is Compliance Training?

Compliance training is one of the most important pieces of training you can give your employees. While many may roll their eyes or complain about its uses, it’s a tool you can use to help foster better working conditions for your employees. 

So, what is compliance training? Well, compliance training teaches employees how to communicate and positively interact with their coworkers. Compliance training teaches corporate policies, penalties, fines, and laws to employees so they know how to behave in the workplace and more importantly, what consequences they could face if they fail to follow these policies and laws. 

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Compliance procedures and regulations change and are updated constantly, so it’s something that should be repeated often and updated. New employees should especially have this training when they first start their new job. Just be sure that you don’t rush this portion of their training to make room for all the other paperwork and everyday tasks. Compliance is one of the very first things you should address when you’re hiring staff. 

What is considered effective compliance training?

Compliance training makes sure all employees are aware of laws, internal policies, and regulatory procedures that function in your company. Effective compliance training sets strong boundaries and clear expectations for employees. If it’s not clear enough, employees may be confused or not be aware they’re committing serious ethical problems. 

Effective compliance training makes sure that your employees soar in the workplace. They’ll know how to handle potentially volatile or uncomfortable situations they could face in the workplace. You can’t account for the behavior of all your employees, but you can enforce good behavior and discipline bad behavior. Giving your employees tools they can use in the workplace to foster a good working environment, will ultimately help your business thrive. 

What do you go over in compliance training?

There are several kinds of policies and regulations that compliance training covers. Depending on your company, there may be certain types of compliance benefits that may benefit your staff more than others. Take a look at the different types of compliance training in this list below. 

1. OSHA 

OSHA is an organization that deals mostly with workplace safety. Warehouse workers, construction, and workplaces that use a lot of large machinery or equipment can especially benefit from OSHA compliance training.

Essentially, you’ll teach your employees the best practices for staying safe within a workplace. They’ll learn safety techniques such as the importance of wearing eye gear, hard hats, and how to use equipment safely. They’ll also understand what it could mean for the company if they fail to adhere to OSHA laws. They could lose employment, the company can be fined, and it can be a disaster if OSHA guidelines aren’t followed. 

For more information on OSHA, follow the link

2. Code of Conduct 

Code of conduct training in compliance includes a wide category of different employee interactions and potential violations. Code of conduct can cover dress code, sexual harassment, and discrimination. Code of conduct training makes sure that all employees know what behaviors or conduct are appropriate in a workplace setting as well as behaviors that aren’t appropriate. 

Dress codes are straightforward. If you make it company policy to dress in suits, skirts, or dresses for employees, then your employees need to know exactly what you expect. While dress codes aren’t enforced by laws and regulations, they are enforced by the company and you can discipline employees who fail to adhere to them. 

As for sexual harassment and discrimination, these are policies that can and will be enforced by laws and regulations. If you have employees or staff that fail to adhere to policies surrounding sexual harassment or discrimination, then they need to be disciplined immediately. You could face lawful action against your company and employees. Compliance training can help you avoid potential lawsuits and help your employees facilitate a happy and safe work environment. 

3. Business ethics

Business ethics is an important thing for your staff to be aware of. These are things like gift-giving policies, conflicts of interest, and confidentiality. While gift-giving policies don’t seem necessary, they are to make sure everything is above board. Gift-giving can be seen as a bribe. It’s important everyone knows what are and aren’t appropriate gifts and how to give them.

There are also conflicts of interest that your staff will need to understand. Knowing what is and isn’t a conflict of interest in the workplace will protect your company and your staff from making unfair decisions that could lead to legal penalties. For more information on conflict of interest, copy and paste the URL or click here https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/conflict-of-interest.asp. 

You also keep a lot of customer and employee information in your company. Employees may have access to a lot of this information, so it’s important that they know how to keep this information to themselves. They should never share any personal information about customers and employees with anyone without cause or adhering to company confidentiality policies. 

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