LM-30 Reporting to the U.S. Department of Labor

 Office of General Counsel Memo

TO:                 Statewide Officers
                        Executive Board
                        PEF Staff 

FROM:          William P. Seamon
                        Rita J. Verga 

DATE:            March 4, 2010

RE:                 LM-30 Reporting to the U.S. Department of Labor
                        Our File No: 7029-P 

This is an update to Counsel’s December 18, 2007 and March 31, 2008 memoranda concerning the revised LM-30 reporting requirements, which are available at www.pef.org.

As we previously reported, effective January 1, 2008 the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) expanded reporting requirements for individuals who may be required to file annual reports (LM-30) with the Department’s Office of Labor-Management Standards (“OLMS”) if they meet the conditions for reporting.  The expanded reporting requirement stemmed from the Bush Administration DOL’s redefinition of the term “labor organization employee” to include individuals who are not employed by their union, but who perform union work during their work day, and are paid for that time by the employer.  Thus, the new filing requirements were aimed at identifying how much employer-paid time is spent on union business, by union stewards and local leaders. 

Since President Obama’s appointees assumed leadership at the DOL, the Department has announced that it will engage in rulemaking to change the revised Form LM-30 and its instructions, but has not yet published a proposal.  Moreover, the OLMS has stated that it will refrain from enforcement actions in light of the pending regulatory action, stating: “it would not be a good use of resources to bring enforcement actions based upon a failure to use a specific form to comply with the statutory obligation to report certain financial information. 

We have been in touch with AFL-CIO’s Counsel’s Office, and concur with their opinion that union officers, local leaders and union employees should use the old, short LM-30 Form and the old guidance, if they have anything to report.  (See, December 18, 2007 Counsel Memorandum.)  The deadline for filing the LM-30 is within 90 days after the end of the union official’s or employee’s fiscal year, which in most cases is March 31.  The deadline for filing for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2009 is March 31, 2010. 

We will continue to apprise you of developments in this area.

RJV/jac