A governmental agency that goes by an acronym is out to educate the public on what all the “alphabet soup” on its websites really means.
According to a DOL blog by Carl Fillichio, who heads DOL’s Office of Public Affairs, “we often joke here at the Labor Department that we should put a jar in the center of the conference table before every meeting. And during the meeting, if any of the participants use an acronym or a word or phrase that a person on the street wouldn’t understand, then they’d have to put a dollar in the jar. The consensus is that we’d be rich pretty fast … and eventually, our meetings wouldn’t sound like the Mos Eisley Cantina scene in Star Wars.”
While most people know what the acronyms for some laws stand for (FMLA=Family and Medical Leave Act and ADA=Americans with Disabilities Act), they may have no clue about GINA, PPI, CPI, COBRA, WIA, or USERRA.
Then add all the acronyms for DOL divisions, such as OFCCP, BLS, EBSA, ETA, WHD, and OLMS, and the confusion is increased. “If it’s confusing for the employees of the U.S. Department of Labor, think what it must be like for folks across the country trying to access and understand our resources and services,” says Fillichio.
The DOL will be highlighting the explanations though monthly elevator posters and the employee intranet. For the public, they can access the DOL weekly public e-newsletter, the dol.gov homepage, and DOL social media activities.
“We believe folks will know us better if they know what we are talking about,” says Fillichio. “We are going to break through the jargon, and simply, better explain what we do.”
OMG!