There are various federal and state reporting and disclosure requirements that apply to ABPA’s clients. ABPA assists our clients in completing and filing (or coordinating the completion) of various forms in a timely fashion. These include, but are not limited to:

• 5500 Forms and Applicable Schedules
• PBGC Forms
• Summary Annual Report
• Plan Document
• SPD
• Summary of Material Modifications
• Summary of Accrued and Vested Pension Benefit
• State and Federal Tax Forms

LM-10 and LM-30 reporting requirements have been in place since 1959, however, the Department of Labor (DOL) has not enforced these requirements in the past. In 2005, the DOL announced that they would begin enforcing reporting requirements. In general, union officers or employees (except employees performing exclusively clerical or custodial services) must file an LM-30 report if they or their spouses or minor children have certain interests or dealings. The reporting requirements are designed to disclose possible conflicts between personal interests and the officer's or employee's duty to the union and its members. As a result, a union officer or employee is required to report matters that involve his or her personal finances or those of a spouse or minor child.

For example, a union officer must file a report if he or she receives income from a business that sold goods or services to, or otherwise had dealings with, an employer whose employees the union represents. An additional example requiring a report would be the employment of an officer's spouse by a company that does business with the union.

“Employers” are required to file an LM-10 report annually with the Department of Labor's Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS) if they engage in specific financial transactions or arrangements with a labor organization, labor organization officer/employee/representative, labor relations consultant, or others. “Employers” are defined broadly and encompass our clients and their vendors. The guidance currently in place states that if the aggregate value of multiple gifts or loans from a single employer to a single union or union official do not exceed $250 in a fiscal year and the gift or gratuity is not related to the recipient’s status in a labor organization, the transaction need not be reported. A gift is any item of value such as (but not limited to) dinners, golf outings, tickets to a show or event, gift baskets, etc.

For additional information and guidance on these issues, please refer to this DOL Web page.  Through this link, you may also access guidance, questions and answers, blank LM-10 and LM-30 forms, instructions and other relevant information that you’ve always wanted to know but were afraid to ask.