5 People to Involve in a Corporate Compliance Program
In the Employment Law Fundamentals course, we talk about establishing a corporate compliance plan to comply with the many laws that impact a company. A complete corporate compliance program should include the following people.
- CEO and Corporate Executives. A good compliance program starts at the top. It can also end at the top because without the support of the CEO, a compliance program will often wilt away. Make sure that senior executives support legal and ethical compliance.
- Compliance officer. Each organization needs an individual who will champion compliance. The compliance officer may be an executive, attorney, accountant, or someone skilled in business who will know compliance requirements and encourage others to “get on board” with the compliance program.
- Accountant. Someone who knows accounting protocols, laws, and ethics should be involved in compliance to ensure that corporate reporting is accurate, honest, and complies with the law including the Sarbanes Oxley Act.
- Attorney. You need someone who knows the law so that it is clear what laws the company will have to comply with. Every company who hires employees will need to comply with employment law. In addition, each specific industry will have laws that impact it. The first step of compliance is to know the law.
- Risk manager. A good compliance program will include a risk manager who can access and, prevent and mitigate risk. This requires identifying areas where the company compliance is at risk, taking action to lessen the risk, and following up when an issue arises to lessen the problems that can arise from the mishap. A good risk manager strengthens any compliance program.
In health care, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) has issued specific guidance for the industry. You may be interested in reading more about this on HHS OIG Compliance 101. The financial services industry has its own compliance requirements through the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).