Top Compliance Certifications & Training to Know

Compliance training isn’t always the most riveting eLearning topic. As a result, many businesses overlook its importance and end up paying the price: $14.8 million, which is how much businesses lose on average per year to noncompliance penalties. 

Compliance training helps protect your organization against fines, lawsuits, and other legal issues by equipping your teams with the knowledge and skills to perform their jobs safely and effectively. By leveraging cloud-based software, you can quickly build and deploy role-specific compliance training programs. Employees who complete training successfully can obtain various professional compliance certifications, which need to be tracked and maintained over time to ensure they are up to date.  

If you’re in an industry like banking, transportation, or manufacturing, compliance certifications are key to building efficient and competent teams. Let’s go over a few different purposes of compliance training and certification, discuss how it benefits your organization, and explore some different types of training opportunities to consider providing (or seeking in new hires). 

What is a compliance certification? 

A compliance certification assures that the certification holder has met specific legal requirements and regulations that apply to their role. Compliance certifications are important because they demonstrate that your company has implemented the necessary procedures and protocols for operating within the law—and avoiding any risks that could result in lawsuits or fines. 

By ensuring that team members hold relevant compliance certifications, businesses can show their customers, investors, and other stakeholders they are responsible and trustworthy. Ensuring that employees have the appropriate certifications also helps protect the company from any potential legal issues that could arise from failing to meet industry regulations.

There are many types of compliance certifications; we’ll review five examples later in this guide. 

What is compliance training?

Compliance training is the process of educating employees on the laws, regulations, and policies relevant to their role within an organization. Its purpose is to ensure that employees understand and follow role- and industry-specific rules, which helps your business: 

• Mitigate risks
• Maintain ethical standards
• Prevent legal violations
• Create a safe and professional environment where all employees feel included  

There are various types of corporate compliance training.

 Some examples include but are not limited to: 

• Anti-harassment training
• Anti-money laundering training 
• Data protection and privacy training
• Ethics training
• Regulatory compliance training specific to particular industries, such as healthcare or finance

The Learning Cloud from WorkRamp enables your business to provide personalized, role-specific compliance training programs for everyone on your team, from new employees to senior management. 

But why provide compliance training in the first place? Let’s go over some of the benefits and advantages for your organization. 

3 benefits of compliance certifications and training 

There are multiple ways your business benefits by offering online compliance training and certification programs for employees. These types of programs contribute to improved employee productivity and workplace safety and reduce your organization’s legal liability while creating opportunities for continuing education. 

Learn more about why compliance training matters, or explore the best compliance training software for your business. 

1. Increased workplace safety

Awareness of—and compliance with—safety regulations is essential for every type of workplace and business. Safety training ensures that team members are ready for emergency situations, know how to prevent workplace accidents, and possess up-to-date qualifications and licenses that are necessary to perform specialized roles or work with specific tools and equipment.

2. Improved productivity

Compliance training can boost productivity by educating employees about the regulations and laws affecting their job roles, enabling your teams to function more efficiently and with less friction. 

Compliance training can also help reduce the likelihood of mistakes and errors—and the resulting delays—which boosts productivity further.

3. Reduced legal risk 

Compliance training is an essential tool for limiting liability and mitigating legal risk, especially in high-risk or heavily regulated industries like: 

• Banking
• Construction
• Healthcare
• Manufacturing
• Transportation 

By delivering in-depth, up-to-date knowledge about industry regulations, federal laws, and ethical standards, compliance training helps ensure that all employees adhere to company policies and protocols. 

Compliance training also helps build a culture of accountability and transparency by clearly defining expectations for individual conduct. 

5 types of compliance training

There are many different categories of compliance training. Some common examples include, but are not limited to: 

1. Human resources (HR) compliance training
2. Health and safety training 
3. Data and cybersecurity training 
4. Regulatory and HIPAA compliance training 
5. Diversity and inclusivity training 

1. HR compliance training

Human resources compliance training involves educating employees about federal and state laws and regulations, as well as company policies, that are related to HR issues like workplace safety, sexual harassment, and employee benefits. 

Its purpose is to protect your organization from potential legal penalties while creating a professional, non-hostile work environment for all employees.

2. Health and safety training

Health and safety training involves educating employees on the risks associated with their job roles and how to manage those risks and use safety equipment properly. 

Health and safety training helps reduce workplace accidents and injuries—as well as the associated legal costs—and creates awareness of health and safety regulations. 

3. Data and cybersecurity training

Data and cybersecurity training is the process of educating employees on best practices for information security and protection, along with potential threats and vulnerabilities associated with data and technology, such as password leaks. It teaches the use of technical and non-technical skills necessary to ensure the safety and integrity of data and systems from malicious actors.

4. Regulatory and HIPAA compliance training 

HIPAA compliance training is designed to help employees become familiar with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act and its specific provisions. It is intended to ensure that healthcare employees understand how to protect patient privacy, handle confidential information, and adhere to HIPAA’s security protocols. The training also covers HIPAA’s enforcement policies and penalties for noncompliance.

5. Diversity and inclusion training 

Diversity and inclusion training involves educating and training employees on the importance of embracing diversity in the workplace and strategies for promoting a more equitable and inclusive environment. 

Diversity training helps organizations create a corporate culture that respects, values and supports different perspectives, backgrounds, and experiences, such as employees who are disabled or identify as LGBTQ+. 

6 types of compliance certifications 

Here are six types of in-demand compliance certifications to explore: 

1. Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP)
2. Certified Regulatory Compliance Manager (CRCM)
3. Certified Compliance and Ethics Professional (CCEP)
4. Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS)
5. Certified in Healthcare Compliance (CHC)
6. Certified Community Bank Compliance Officer (CCBCO)

1. Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP)

The Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) is an internationally recognized certification for information security professionals. According to Forbes, this certification is “among the gold standards for IT and cybersecurity professionals.” 

CISSP certification demands a comprehensive set of specialized skills needed to manage and protect an organization’s data and networks. The CISSP exam covers topics like Asset Security, Security and Operations, and  Software Development Security.

2. Certified Regulatory Compliance Manager (CRCM) 

A Certified Regulatory Compliance Manager (CRCM) is a professional certification program provided by the American Bankers Association (ABA). The CRCM teaches banking professionals how to effectively manage and lead compliance management programs, covering topics like: 

• Banking regulations
• Risk management
• Consumer protection
• Compliance management systems
• Ethics and fraud prevention 

The CRCM certification requires the completion of an extensive exam and a minimum of three years’ experience in a compliance-related role.

3. Certified Compliance and Ethics Professional (CCEP) 

The Certified Compliance and Ethics Professional (CCEP) certification is awarded to professionals with expertise in ethics and compliance and is designed for employees who manage or lead an organization’s compliance and ethics programs. 

The CCEP certification covers a range of skills, including but not limited to: 

• Developing and implementing effective compliance and ethics programs
• Conducting risk assessments and audits
• Analyzing and reporting compliance and ethics data
• Advising and communicating with stakeholders
• Managing investigations and compliance reviews

4. Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS)

A Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS) certification is a professional certification program offered by the Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists (ACAMS). 

The CAMS certification—regarded as the global standard for anti-money laundering (AML) specialists—covers a wide range of skills related to financial crime prevention, such as:

• Management of AML/CFT (Countering the Financing of Terrorism) programs and customer risk assessments
• Monitoring and investigation techniques for suspicious activities
• Reporting and filing requirements
• Knowledge of financial products and services
• AML/CFT compliance training and internal auditing

5. Certified in Healthcare Compliance (CHC) 

The Certified in Healthcare Compliance (CHC) certification is an internationally recognized program that certifies an individual’s expertise in the healthcare compliance field. 

This type of certification covers a broad range of issues, topics, and regulations impacting the field of healthcare compliance, including: 

• Data privacy and security
• Healthcare fraud and abuse
• Healthcare risk management
• Healthcare ethics 

6. Certified Community Bank Compliance Officer (CCBCO) 

This professional certification is offered by the American Bankers Association (ABA). It focuses on understanding and managing the regulatory environment of community banks and developing and implementing effective compliance programs. 

Some examples of specific skills and topics covered in the certification include: 

• Developing risk-based compliance management systems
• Evaluating compliance program effectiveness
• Consumer protection laws and regulations, such as the Fair Credit Reporting Act and Bank Secrecy Act

By implementing effective compliance training programs, employers can significantly reduce the likelihood of costly litigation, negative public perception, and regulatory fines or penalties—all while fostering a compliant work environment where professionalism thrives. 

The Learning Cloud empowers your business to deliver engaging training content that your teams will retain. With interactive features, skill mastery assessments, custom learning paths, and thousands of pre-built content resources, WorkRamp provides all the tools to curate bespoke compliance training programs. 

Provide and track compliance training with an LMS designed for employee learning

Protect your organization against liability, minimize safety and security risks, and build an inclusive workplace culture—all with a single, powerful platform. The Learning Cloud’s All-in-One LMS enables businesses to build and deploy engaging compliance training programs for every role and industry and automate training reminders to ensure employees stay current. 

Unlock your organization’s full growth potential with employee training programs that deliver measurable results. Contact us to schedule your free, personalized demo and start exploring our platform today.