Why is everyone suddenly asking me, "What’s an LM-30?"
LMRDA §202 requires union officials and employees to submit annual reports of any payments or economic benefits received, or financial interests in, certain employers or businesses, with some exceptions. LM-30 is the DOL form used for that annual report, and the fact that so many people don’t know the form is an indication that DOL has not been enforcing §202. DOL recently informed the AFL-CIO that it plans to aggressively investigate the failure of union officials and employees to submit these required report, but yesterday, DOL announced a transitional grace period for new filers: voluntarily file your current report by 7/15/05, and DOL will probably not require prior year reports.
Who is subject to filing:
Union officers, and union employees other than those performing only clerical or custodial duties. You need to report if, during the fiscal year, you, your spouse, or your minor child, directly or indirectly held any legal or equitable interest or engaged in any transaction described in LMRDA §202.
What to report:
(A) payments or economic benefits received from, or financial interests in, employers with which your union has or seeks to have a collective bargaining agreement.
(B) income, benefit, or financial interest in a business 1) if a substantial part of its business is with an employer your union has or seeks to have a CBA or 2) if any of its business is with your union or a related trust fund, and
(C) payments/benefits received from any other employer or labor consultant, unless an exception applies.
Major exceptions:
Under (A), exceptions include wages and benefits received as bona fide employees, and other payments for non-working periods if required by law or CBA, and financial interests that are bona fide investments in securities traded on a national securities exchange, and mutual funds. Nonlisted securities are excluded if their value or amount is insubstantial (holdings of $1,000 or less, or income of $100 or less, for any one security) and their acquisition was unrelated to your position in a labor organization.
Under (B), only the exclusions for investment securities apply: listed on national exchange, or insubstantial value/amount and unrelated to your position in the union.
Under (C), exceptions include bona fide wages, payments to jointly trusteed welfare and pension trusts, and other payments described in LMRDA §302(c), bona fide loans and interest from banks and similar financial institutions, and income from stocks provided the acquisition of the stocks was unrelated to your position in a labor organization and the issuer is not in competition with an employer with which your union has or seeks to have a collective bargaining agreement.
The LM-30 is only 2 pages. Instructions and other guidance, however, runs about 14 pages, so I can only hit the highlights here. I suggest you start by listing all financial interests or benefits you receive (wages, discounts, expense reimbursements, etc), broken down by categories A, B and C. Download the forms and instructions, and determine what is reportable. Even if you conclude that nothing you receive is reportable, I suggest you document your review and conclusions. My practice focuses on audits of ERISA benefit plans and labor organizations, so I can help with your questions. However, this is serious stuff, so you may want to review your final determination with legal counsel.
For more information, or to talk about your next audit, call me at 585-226-2621.
(These pdf files need Adobe Acrobat 5.05 or Acrobat Reader 5.1. Right click to download. )
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