Office of Labor-Management Standards Revises Disclosure Requirements for Union Officers and Employees

The Department of Labor’s Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS) has published a final rule revising the Form LM-30 Labor Organization Officer and Employee Report.

Pursuant to section 202 of the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA), the Department established the Form LM-30, which is intended to make public any actual or likely conflict between the personal interests of union officers and employees and their obligations to the union and its members.

These conflicts concern payments, interests, and transactions involving: (1) the employers whose employees the union represents or actively seeks to represent; (2) vendors and service providers to such employers, the official’s union, or union’s trust; and (3) other employers from which a payment could create a conflict.

In 2007, the Department published a final rule that expanded the length and complexity of the form and instructions, as well as the scope of individuals required to file and the breadth of information required to be reported.  Upon an examination of the policy and legal justifications for and utility of the changes, and following a July 2009 stakeholder meeting, the Department proposed revisions to the 2007 Form LM-30.

This final rule shortens the form from nine to two pages, and effectuates changes in the following five substantive areas of the Form LM-30 reporting requirements:

- Union shop stewards, as a general rule, are not required to file the form;

- Union leave and no docking payments (i.e., payments to union officials, who are also employees of the employer, for work done for the union on employer time) are not required to be reported;

- Bona fide financial transactions with credit institutions, including loans, are not reportable;

- Payments from employers competitive to the represented employer are reportable only if they represent an actual or likely conflict, and payments from unions (other than staff unions) and their trusts are not required to be reported; and

- International, national, and intermediate union officers have a continuing obligation to report potential conflicts regarding locals and other subordinate unions (referred to as “top-down reporting”).  While the 2007 rule excluded employees from the top-down reporting requirement, this final rule requires top-down reporting by higher-level employees who exercise “significant authority or influence” over a subordinate union.

This rule takes effect on November 25, 2011.  The changes made to the Form LM-30 reporting requirements will apply to reports required by union officials with fiscal years beginning on or after January 1, 2012.

For fiscal years beginning before that date, OLMS will accept the Revised (2011) Form LM-30, the 2007 Form LM-30, or the Pre-2007 Form LM-30.  Accordingly, for fiscal years beginning before January 1, 2012, OLMS will refrain from initiating enforcement actions against union officers and union employees due to failure to file the report required by section 202, based solely on the use of a particular form, as long as individuals meet their statutorily-required filing obligation in some manner.

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