ONE PLATFORM. THOUSANDS OF JURISDICTIONS.
By The GovDocs Team | July 22, 2025
Employment law compliance goes far beyond state and federal rules. With 38,787 jurisdictions nationwide, managing local laws requires more than spreadsheets or guesswork. GovDocs LocationCheck gives HR and compliance teams the confidence that every location is tied to the right jurisdiction—bringing clarity to a complex map of obligations.
Employment law compliance isn’t a one-size-fits all, in fact, it’s more like a never-ending puzzle where the pieces change depending on where your employees work and you have physical locations. As of July 2025, GovDocs monitors 38,787 different governing bodies, each with the authority to create rules that impact your workforce.
Sets nationwide employment standards. Think of the federal minimum wage.
Each with the ability to create their own wage laws, leave policies, and posting requirements –often stricter than the federal government.
Many enforce their own rules, especially around paid sick leave and minimum wage.
These local entities can pass their own ordinances, which may differ not only from the state, but from the city or county next door
The real kicker, most HR and compliance teams don’t have visibility, time, or resources into which jurisdiction a location actually falls under – especially when the boundaries get murky.
Your location says one zip code… but three different wage rates apply depending on the actual jurisdiction.
Why it fails:
Zip codes were designed by the U.S. Postal Service for delivering mail—not for legal or compliance boundaries. Yet, many HR systems and third-party vendors still use zip codes to apply employment law requirements. This approach is dangerously imprecise. 42% of enterprise locations pay their employees based on the zip code they are working in.
LocationCheck goes beyond the zip codes, using rooftop assignment to the correct jurisdiction based on the exact worksite address, that means you get the right law for the right location, every time. No zip code guesswork
Cities often share names with other jurisdictions or are location within counties with different rules.
Why it fails:
City names may seem straightforward—but in the world of employment law compliance, they can be deceptively complex. HR teams and payroll systems often reference “city” as a basic location field… but legal jurisdiction doesn’t always match the name on the mailing address.
LocationCheck, paired with GovDocs sophisticated address validation, standardizes and confirms city, county, and rooftop data, ensuring each location is matched to the true governing authority, not just the name on the mailing address.
Federal and state laws get most of the attention, but cities and counties often have their own requirements – especially around minimum wage and paid leave
Why it fails:
Most compliance strategies start at the federal and state levels—which makes sense. Those laws are widely publicized and relatively easier to monitor. But stopping there is a critical oversight. Many of the most aggressive and fast-changing employment laws are passed at the city and county level, especially around minimum wage, paid leave, and fair scheduling.
In fact, local laws often go further than state mandates, and some exist only at the local level. Without pinpointing the right jurisdiction, you may never even see these laws—let alone apply them correctly.
By pinpointing the exact jurisdiction, LocationCheck surfaces local laws you might miss otherwise – like city-specific wage rates or unique leave ordinances – nothing falls through the cracks.
Operations, HR, and payroll may each refer to a location differently. If addresses aren’t standardized and mapped properly, the wrong jurisdiction can be assigned in different departments.
Why it matters:
In large organizations, it’s common for different departments—HR, payroll, operations, legal, and even IT—to refer to the same location in slightly different ways. While that may seem harmless, small inconsistencies in how addresses are entered, stored, or referenced can lead to entirely different jurisdictional assignments. Jurisdiction-based compliance is only as accurate as the location data feeding it. If the source of truth isn’t consistent, the laws you apply may not be either.
LocationCheck provides single source of truth for jurisdictional data across your organization. From HR to payroll to legal, all teams can rely on the same standardized location mapping.
Not all vendors track down to the municipal or township level – or update frequently enough to keep up with local changes. That means you’re trusting incomplete data.
Why it fails:
Many HR teams rely on third-party vendors or internal tools to determine which employment laws apply at each location. But not all vendors are created equal. Some don’t track all jurisdiction levels or use overly simplistic methods—like city name or zip code—to assign laws.
GovDocs tracks over 38,000 jurisdictions, including hard-to-find nuanced laws such as unincorporated, incorporated, and opt-in and opt-out counties. Backed by ongoing legal research and LocationCheck, your data stays current and accurate in real-time.
With over 38,000 unique jurisdictions in the U.S., employment law compliance is no longer just about knowing federal and state rules. Cities, counties, and even townships are creating their own laws at an accelerating pace—and organizations that rely on zip codes, city names, or generic vendor data are flying blind.
That’s where LocationCheck comes in.
It’s more than just a feature—it’s the foundation for accurate compliance across your entire footprint. From standardizing location data across teams to surfacing hard-to-find local ordinances, LocationCheck ensures you’re applying the right law to the right location—every time.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Missouri Repeals Paid Sick Leave