As the economy becomes more complex in the digital age, leaders in nearly every industry must learn to navigate legal issues that consist of rules, regulations, and laws that govern their respective industrial segments. It’s no longer enough for supervisors to rely on others for legal knowledge. But how do today’s working adults gain the specific expertise to do their jobs? There are multiple resources. Individuals who work in the transport sector rely on DOT (Dept of Transportation) regulations to guide them. Likewise, CPAs (Certified Public Accountants) look to the Financial Accounting Standards Board, or FASB, for detailed information about how to report transactions.
Depending on the industry, there’s always a governing body, state agency, federal organization, or similar entity for professionals to learn the relevant information. This principle holds for those in accounting, architecture, engineering, construction, healthcare, finance, technology, environmental compliance, transportation, bodywork, and dozens of other areas. The following roster lists individual industries and the legal resources for each one. Workers need to know where to find essential legal information, so a good place to begin is usually the website of a legal or quasi-legal organization. The IRS website offers a wealth of legal taxation advice for those who work in accounting, finance, banking, and other fields. Here are more details about the various legal resources professionals use.
Healthcare Workers
In the fast-paced healthcare industry, doctors, administrators, nurses, compliance managers, and many others must operate in an environment that is dense with rules, guidelines, laws, and ethical standards. The primary resource for those who work in the field is the HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. For decades, it has been the central legislative document that protects the security of data. The reason it was passed was to shield personal health information from unauthorized use. Whenever modern healthcare managers put new rules or projects into place, they first make sure that the proposals are HIPAA-compliant. There’s more to it than that, but managers turn to HIPAA to protect sensitive patient information as well as also themselves and their organizations from lawsuits.
Transport Fleet Managers
Fleet managers in transportation firms wear many hats. They’re responsible for making on-time deliveries of goods to varied destinations, making sure everything is done in a legal way, and seeing to it that the company’s operations are conducted smoothly. On a regular basis, fleet managers look to DOT regulations to learn about complex rules that govern carriers, drivers, and cargo. If you’re a fleet supervisor, the best way to get reliable information is to study DOT regulations for your industry and collect as many useful tips as possible about how to keep your company’s fleet fully compliant with DOT rules. The Department of Transportation oversees dozens of aspects of the transport industry, including areas like vehicle regulations, on-the-road safety, driver training, and many more.
Accountants
Certified Public Accountants are charged with keeping their companies’ integrity level high and making sure the organization abides by all pertinent accounting standards. The highly trained professionals turn to FASB edicts and various numbered decision papers to guide them as they create reports. The Board also issues super-detailed Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, known as GAAP, to instruct accountants about topics like reporting standards, requirements for disclosure, and other specific situations. Working CPAs must stay informed about the latest FASB promulgations and GAAP guidelines to do their jobs. It’s the only way they can be sure of giving their clients reliable and accurate financial information.
Technology
Like the healthcare sector, the IT or tech field is awash with regulations designed to protect data privacy. In the 2020s, IT pros look to something called GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) to give them guidance about how to deal with a long list of pertinent situations. Even outside the US, GDPR guidelines play a central role in everyday operations at IT firms. In the European Union, workers must abide by the GDPR rules to properly safeguard and process almost any type of data. There are fines for non-compliance in most countries. That’s why privacy officers, legal professionals, IT managers, and others take time to familiarize themselves with the details of GDPR. Ignorance of the law is no excuse for managers who have easy access to the guidelines and who are constantly reminded of their importance.
