HR Research Where to Find Answers on the Internet

Overview ●The “rules of the game” come from a variety of sources: o Statutes (Laws) o Regulations/Rules o Enforcement Agency Guidance o Administrative Decisions o Attorney General Opinions o Executive Orders o Judicial Opinions/Orders

Statutory Overview ●Bills are proposed and acted on by Congress or the Montana Legislature o Federal Bills are published by Library of Congress o Montana Bills are published by Legislative Council ●One adopted, new law is published as a “session law” ●Once codified (by subject matter): o Federal laws are published in the United States Code o Montana laws are published in the Montana Codes Annotated

Federal Laws ●Congressional Bills are at ●USC is online at o USC subject indexed by Title and Section Number o Example: Title 29 is Labor, Title 42 is Public Health and Welfare o Section 42 USC 2000e is The Civil Rights Act of 1964 Section 42 USC 2000e

Montana Laws ●Legislative Bills are at the Legislative Council website o o Click on session- then 2015 Session o Click on Laws, then “look up Bill Information o Bill detail not available until approved by sponsor ●MCA is subject indexed by Title, Chapter and SectionMCA o Example: Title 39 is “Labor” o Chapter 3 is Wage and Hour o Section is the listing of exempt positions

Regulatory Overview ●Administrative Procedures Act establishes process ●NOPR= Notice of proposed rulemaking ●FR= Federal Register-- the daily publication of proposed and adopted rules ●CFR= Code of Federal Regulations- Grouped by issuing Agency ●MAR- Montana Administrative Register ●ARM- Administrative Rules of Montana

Federal Regulations ●Federal Register is published daily by the Government Printing Office and can be found at: o ollectionCode=FR ollectionCode=FR o Regulations.gov has regulations being considered Regulations.gov ●Once adopted, regulations are published in the Electronic Code of Federal Regulation. (

Guide Guide to Federal Regulations ●Title 29- Labor Topics o idx?SID=2ec5a88f232f ec4a16e5e188&tpl =/ecfrbrowse/Title29/29tab_02.tpl idx?SID=2ec5a88f232f ec4a16e5e188&tpl =/ecfrbrowse/Title29/29tab_02.tpl ●Title 49- Transportation Drug Testing o idx?SID=2ec5a88f232f ec4a16e5e188&no de=pt &rgn=div5 idx?SID=2ec5a88f232f ec4a16e5e188&no de=pt &rgn=div5

Montana Regulations ●A law must authorize rulemaking ●NOPRs are published at by the Secretary of State in the Montana Administrative Registerwww.mtrules.org ●Notices of Adoption of rules also published in the ARM ●Once adopted, rules are filed by issuing agency and Division at mtrules.org ●Example: Title 24 is MT Dept of Labor o Chapter 16 is Wage and Hour

Federal Guidance ●Various Agencies publish interpretive instructions: o US Department of Labor ▪ Field Operations Handbook at ▪ Opinion Letters at o Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ▪ Guidance Documents at ●US DOL e-laws advisors

State Guidance ●Montana Wage and Hour o W&H Q&As payment-acthttp://erd.dli.mt.gov/labor-standards/wage-and-hour- payment-act

Judicial System Overview ●District v. Appeals Courts o Montana is One Federal District o State has 22 Judicial Districts State has 22 Judicial Districts ●9th Circuit Court of Appeals9th Circuit Court of Appeals ▪ Decisions Apply in 11 Western states ▪ No Intermediate Appeals court in Montana ●US Supreme Court decisions apply nationwide o Not all appeals are accepted ●Montana Supreme Court applies statewide o All appeals must be accepted

Federal Court Decisions ●District Court Decisions on-line for a subscription fee ●9th Circuit Decisions at ●Other Circuits at ●US Supreme Court at ●Blog feeds available at

Montana Court Decisions ●District Court decisions not on-line ●Supreme Court Decisions at o Subscribe to Blog at ●MT Workers’ Compensation Court o Opinions o Subject Matter Reference

Federal Agency Decisions ●Many agencies publish their administrative decisions on line. o Generally search for [agency name] + decision ●Example: o ●Presidential Executive Orders- actions/executive-orders actions/executive-orders

Montana Agency Decisions ●MT Department of Labor and Industry o Human Rights Bureau Decisions- o Wage and Hour Decisions %26 Hour %26 Hour ●Governor’s Executive Orders-

AG Opinions ●MT Attorney General Opinions have the force of law o Since o Prior to general-opinions-letters-advice/attorney-generals- opinions-letters-advice general-opinions-letters-advice/attorney-generals- opinions-letters-advice

Labor Market Information ●Federal: o Bureau of Labor Statistics o American Fact Finder (Census Bureau) American Fact Finder (Census Bureau) ▪ EEO File ▪ Census of Governments ▪ Employment by Census Unit o Wage Determinations under SCA and Davis Bacon

Montana Labor Market Resources ●Montana o MT Reseach and Analysis future.orghttp:// future.org ▪ Employment and Unemployment ▪ County Reports ▪ Informational Wage Rates

Other Useful Resources ●Occupational Network Provides detailed job description information, occupational outlooks and wages o ●DLI employer Information ●Personnel Plus’ HR Professionals o Archives plus.net/archives.htmlhttp:// plus.net/archives.html

Other Useful Information ●Guide to Montana's Discrimination Laws ●Employment Discrimination is Against the Law laws/employment-discrimination laws/employment-discrimination ●Rights of Persons with Disabilities laws/rights-of-persons-with-disabilities laws/rights-of-persons-with-disabilities Sex Discrimination and Sexual Harassment and-pregnancy-discrimination Legal Rights of Pregnant Employees and-pregnancy-discrimination/legal-rights-of-pregnant- employees Human Rights Web-Based Training

Useful Links ●Sex Discrimination and Sexual Harassment discrimination discrimination ●Legal Rights of Pregnant Employees discrimination/legal-rights-of-pregnant-employees discrimination/legal-rights-of-pregnant-employees ● Human Rights Web-Based Training

Posters ●Federal Poster Page- o Which Posters Do I need? o Print federal posters- o Print federal and state posters

Wrapup ●Questions?