Office of Labor-Management Standards 2009 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This rule extends the filing due date of Form T-1 Trust Annual Reports required to be filed during calendar year 2010. The Form T-1 is an annual financial disclosure report required to be filed, pursuant to the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA), by labor unions with total annual receipts of $250,000 or more about certain trusts in which they are interested. Labor unions are required to use the Form T-1 to disclose financial information about these trusts, such as assets, liabilities, receipts, and disbursements. The Department established the Form T-1 in a final rule published October 2, 2008, with an effective date of January 1, 2009. Subsequently, the Department announced its intention to propose withdrawal of the Form T-1 (Spring 2009 Regulatory Agenda, Fall 2009 Regulatory Agenda). The Department also held a public meeting on July 21, 2009, and received comments from interested parties concerning provisions of the Form T-1 and its proposed rescission. On December 3, 2009, the Department published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking proposing to extend for one year Form T-1 reports due in calendar year 2010, pending the completion of a rulemaking proposing to withdraw the October 2, 2008 Form T-1 rule. In consideration of comments received, the Department now extends for one calendar year the filing due date of the Form T-1 reports otherwise required to be filed during 2010.

This final rule withdraws a rule published in the Federal Register on January 21, 2009, which revised the Form LM-2, an annual financial report required by the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959, as amended (LMRDA), and established standards and procedures by which the Department can revoke, when warranted, the authorization for smaller labor organizations to file the Form LM-3, a less detailed annual financial report also required pursuant to the LMRDA. Upon consideration of the comments received following an April 21, 2009 notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM), the Department withdraws the January 21 rule. The rule is withdrawn because the revisions it made to the Form LM-2 were issued without an adequate review of the Department's experience under the relatively recent revisions to Form LM-2 in 2003, and because the comments received indicate that the Department may have underestimated the increased burden that the rule would place on reporting labor organizations. Additionally, upon consideration of the comments received, the Department withdraws the provisions of the rule pertaining to the revocation of a small union's authorization to file a Form LM-3 report due to delinquency or deficiency in filing such report, because the revocation standards and procedures are not based upon realistic assessments of such a union's ability to file the more complex Form LM- 2 and thus are unlikely to achieve the intended goals of greater transparency and disclosure. Moreover, the revocation provisions did not adequately balance the need for transparency with the burden placed upon smaller labor organizations.

The Department of Labor, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, conducts a pre-clearance consultation program to provide the general public and Federal agencies with an opportunity to comment on proposed and/or continuing collections of information in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA95) [44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)]. This program helps to ensure that requested data can be provided in the desired format, reporting burden (time and financial resources) is minimized, collection instruments are clearly understood, and the impact of collection requirements on respondents can be properly assessed. Currently, the Office of Labor-Management Standards is soliciting comments concerning its proposal to extend the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approval of the Information Collection 1215-0205: Pre-2007 Labor Organization Officer and Employee Report (Pre-2007 Form LM-30). A copy of the proposed information collection request can be obtained by

This document extends the period for comments on the proposed rule published on April 21, 2009 (74 FR 18172). The proposed rule would rescind the regulations published on January 21, 2009 (74 FR 3677), which made several revisions to the current Form LM-2, which is used by the largest labor organizations to file their annual financial reports under the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959, as amended, and established a procedure by which the Secretary of Labor may revoke, under certain circumstances, a particular labor organization's authorization to file a simplified annual report, Form LM-3. The comment period, which was to expire on May 21, 2009, is extended to June 22, 2009.

This Notice of Proposed Rulemaking proposes to withdraw a rule published in the Federal Register on January 21, 2009, pertaining to the filing by labor organizations of the Form LM-2, an annual financial report required by the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959, as amended (LMRDA). On February 3, 2009, the Department's Employment Standards Administration (ESA) Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS) published a request for comments about issues of law and policy raised by this rule (74 FR 5899), consistent with directions from the new Administration to review all regulations that had not yet become effective. On February 20, 2009, the Department of Labor postponed the effective date of this rule until April 21, 2009, to allow additional time for the Department to review comments received pursuant to the earlier notice, which were due by March 5, 2009, and to permit labor unions to delay development and implementation of costly changes to their accounting and recordkeeping systems and procedures pending this review. A further extension of the rule's effective date and an extension of the rule's applicability date were proposed on March 19, 2009, and the effective date is delayed until October 19, 2009 in a document published elsewhere in this issue of the Federal Register. Upon consideration of the comments received on questions of law and policy raised by the January 21 rule, the Department proposes its withdrawal, because the rule was issued without an adequate review of the Department's experience under the relatively recent revisions to Form LM-2 in 2003 and because the comments indicate that the Department may have underestimated the increased burden that would be placed on reporting labor organizations by the January 21 rule. Finally, the Department has concluded, based on the comments received, that the provisions related to the revocation of a small union's authorization to file a simpler form because it has been delinquent or deficient in filing that form are not based upon realistic assessments of such a union's ability to file the more complex form and are unlikely to achieve the intended goals of greater transparency and disclosure.

This notice seeks public comment on a proposal to delay for 180 days the April 21, 2009 effective date of the rule Labor Organization Annual Financial Reports, published in the Federal Register on January 21, 2009, and extended by a document published February 20, 2009; and delay the applicability date of the rule, now set for July 1, 2009, until January 1, 2010. The rule revised the Labor Organization Annual Report Form LM-2 and established a procedure whereby the Department of Labor may revoke, when warranted, the authorization to file the simplified Labor Organization Annual Report Form LM-3.