New Labor Department Focus on Old LMRDA Reporting Requirements Imposes Burdensome Filing Obligation on Unsuspecting Employers

As part of the federal government's campaign to promote greater transparency in the financial activities of unions, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) recently announced its intentions to begin enforcing certain filing requirements under the Labor Management Reporting Disclosure Act (“LMRDA”), 29 U.S.C. § 401 et seq. The LMRDA requires both employers and unions (along with their representatives and employees) to submit annual reports detailing, with limited exceptions, payments, gifts, gratuities, favors and other things of value provided by an employer to a union, union representative or labor relations consultant in the previous year. However, reporting such activity exposes employers to potential criminal and civil liability for engaging in transactions prohibited by other federal statutes. Although the LMRDA reporting requirements have been on the books since its 1959 enactment, the DOL had not previously actively enforced them.