[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 246 (Monday, December 23, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 70567-70569]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-27578]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Office of Labor-Management Standards


Information Collection Request; comment request

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Labor, as part of its continuing effort to 
reduce paperwork and respondent burden, conducts a preclearance 
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 (PRA). Currently, the Office of Labor-Management Standards 
(OLMS) of the Department of Labor (Department) is soliciting comments 
concerning the proposed extension of the collection of information 
requirements implementing the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure 
Act of 1959, as amended (LMRDA). A copy of the proposed information 
collection request can be obtained by contacting the office listed 
below in the ADDRESSES section of this Notice.

DATES: Written comments must be submitted to the office using the 
method below by February 21, 2020.

ADDRESSES: Andrew R. Davis, Chief of the Division of Interpretations 
and Standards, Office of Labor-Management Standards, U.S. Department of 
Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue NW, Room N-5609, Washington, DC 20210, 
[email protected], (202) 693-0123 (this is not a toll-free number), 
(800) 877-8339 (TTY/TDD).
    Please use only one method of transmission (submission via email to 
[email protected]) to submit comments or to request a copy of this 
information collection and its supporting documentation; including a 
description of the likely respondents, proposed frequency of response, 
and estimated total burden. You may also request a copy of this 
information collection and its supporting documentation by sending an 
email to [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 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 (OLMS) of the Department of Labor (Department) is soliciting 
comments concerning the proposed extension of the collection of 
information requirements implementing the Labor-Management Reporting 
and Disclosure Act of 1959, as amended (LMRDA). In particular, the 
Department seeks to revise the existing ICR in order to ensure a fully 
comprehensive estimate of such burden associated with the LMRDA, by 
including the recordkeeping burden associated with union officer 
elections. See 29 U.S.C. 481. Under 29 U.S.C. 481, election officials 
designated in the constitution and bylaws or the secretary, if no other 
official is designated, shall preserve for one year the ballots and all 
other records pertaining to a labor organization's election of 
officers. Additionally, the revision is necessary in order to 
incorporate the reporting burden associated with the voluntary 
submission of collective bargaining agreements to OLMS pursuant to 
Labor Management Relations Act section 211(a) and Secretary's Order 4-
2007. Finally, the revision is necessary due to electronic filing 
changes associated with the Forms LM-1, LM-3, LM-4, LM-10, LM-20, and 
LM-21. The Department proposes to remove the continuing hardship 
exemption for Form LM-3 and LM-4 filers, and also seeks to make 
mandatory electronic filing for labor organizations that file the Form 
LM-1, labor relations consultants that file the Form LM-20 and Form LM-
21, and employers that file the Form LM-10.
    I. Background: Congress enacted the Labor-Management Reporting and 
Disclosure Act of 1959, as amended (LMRDA), to provide for the 
disclosure of information on the financial transactions and 
administrative practices of labor organizations. The statute also 
provides, under certain circumstances, for reporting by labor 
organization officers and employees, employers, labor relations 
consultants, and surety companies. Section 208 of the LMRDA authorizes 
the Secretary to issue rules and regulations prescribing the form of 
the required reports. The reporting provisions were devised to 
implement a basic tenet of the LMRDA: the guarantee of democratic 
procedures and safeguards within labor organizations, which are 
designed to protect the basic rights of union members.
    Pursuant to section 201 of the LMRDA, the Department established 
the initial Form LM-1 Labor Organization Information Report, as well as 
the annual financial disclosure reports: The Forms LM-2, LM-3, and LM-
4. These reports detail the receipts, disbursements, assets, and 
liabilities of covered labor organizations during their previous fiscal 
year. The Form LM-2 is the most detailed report, for those labor 
organizations with $250,000 or more in total annual receipts. The Form 
LM-3 is available for those labor organizations with fewer than 
$250,000 in total annual receipts, and the Form LM-4 is available for 
those labor organizations

[[Page 70568]]

with fewer than $10,000 in total annual receipts.\1\
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    \1\ Pursuant to LMRDA Titles II and III, the Department also 
established eight other reporting and disclosure forms: the Form LM-
10 Employer Report; Forms LM-15, 15-A, and 16 trusteeship reports; 
Form LM-20 Agreement and Activities Report; Form LM-21 Receipts and 
Disbursement Report; Form LM-30 Officer and Employee Report; and 
Form S-1 Surety Report.
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    Section 205 of the LMRDA provides that the reports are public 
information. Filers submit the reports to the Department's Office of 
Labor-Management Standards (OLMS), pursuant to the OLMS Information 
Collection Request (ICR), OMB # 1245-0003 (Form LM-1, LM-2, LM-3, LM-4, 
Simplified Annual Report, LM-10, LM-15, LM-15A, LM-16, LM-20, LM-21, 
LM-30, and S-1). Currently, filers can submit the Forms LM-2, LM-3, LM-
4, LM-10, LM-20, LM-21, and LM-30 electronically through the OLMS free 
and web-based Electronic Forms System (EFS). EFS does not rely on 
third-party software or require the purchase of digital signatures; 
instead, EFS is a secure, web-based system that uses electronic 
signatures, which the filing organization's two principal officers 
register for, along with the union, obtaining a personal identification 
number (PIN) each year.\2\ Currently, Form LM-2, LM-3, and LM-4 filers 
must use EFS, with the Form LM-2 instructions providing a temporary 
hardship exemption, and the Form LM-3 and LM-4 instructions providing a 
temporary and continuing hardship exemption process. Form LM-10, LM-20, 
Form LM-21, and Form LM-30 filers can choose instead to print off the 
completed form, sign manually, and mail the form to OLMS.
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    \2\ In May 2011, EFS first became available for LM-3 and LM-4 
filers, and those unions with fiscal years ending after June 30, 
2011 began to take advantage of electronic filing. Prior to this 
implementation of EFS, few Form LM-3 and LM-4 unions utilized EFS, 
since they would be required to purchase a digital signature. As 
stated, EFS is free of charge.
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    In response to requests from union members, the media, members of 
Congress, and other interested parties for internet access to reports 
filed by unions under the LMRDA, OLMS developed a website 
(www.unionreports.gov) where individuals may now view union annual 
financial reports and conduct data searches, displaying the results in 
a number of preformatted listings, free of charge. OLMS can 
instantaneously post reports submitted via EFS. Reports submitted via 
mail must be scanned and then posted, with certain data manually 
entered.

Authority

    The legal authority for this notice is set forth in 35 U.S.C. 
3506(c)(2), and sections 203 and 208 of the LMRDA, 29 U.S.C. 432, 438. 
Section 208 of the LMRDA provides that the Secretary of Labor shall 
have authority to issue, amend, and rescind rules and regulations 
prescribing the form and publication of reports required to be filed 
under Title II of the Act and such other reasonable rules and 
regulations as he may find necessary to prevent the circumvention or 
evasion of the reporting requirements. 29 U.S.C. 438. The Secretary has 
delegated his authority under the LMRDA to the Director of the Office 
of Labor-Management Standards and permits re-delegation of such 
authority. See Secretary's Order 8-2009, 74 FR 58835 (Nov. 13, 2009).

LMRDA Election Recordkeeping Requirements

    In addition to the LMRDA's reporting and disclosure requirements, 
the Act requires covered labor organizations to hold periodic elections 
for their officers. See LMRDA section 401, 29 U.S.C. 481. Under 29 
U.S.C. 481(e), election officials designated in the constitution and 
bylaws or the secretary, if no other official is designated, shall 
preserve for one year the ballots and all other records pertaining to 
the election. This provision advances Congress' goal of promoting union 
democracy by protecting employees' rights to choose their own 
representatives. The enactment of this Act was necessary to eliminate 
or prevent improper practices on the part of labor organizations, 
employers, labor relations consultants, and their officers and 
representatives which distorted and defeated the policies of the Labor 
Management Relations Act (LMRA), 1947, as amended, and the Railway 
Labor Act, as amended.
    The revised ICR would provide an estimate for the burden associated 
with labor unions maintaining such union officer election records.

Voluntary Submission of Collective Bargaining Agreements

    The Department maintains a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) 
file pursuant to Section 211(a) of the LMRA and Secretary's Order 4-
2007, issued in May 2007. The authority for maintaining the Department 
of Labor's CBA file was transferred to OLMS from the Bureau of Labor 
Statistics (BLS), pursuant to Secretary's Order 4-2007. The CBA file 
has been maintained by the Department since 1947, pursuant to Section 
211(a) of the LMRA, which directs the Department of Labor to collect 
these agreements ``for the guidance and information of interested 
representatives of employers, employees, and the general public.''
    The revised ICR would provide an estimate for the burden associated 
with unions and employers submitting these CBAs to the Department.

Mandatory Electronic Filing of the Forms LM-1, LM-3, LM-4, LM-10, LM-
20, and LM-21

    The Department seeks to amend ICR 1245-0003, as well as the Forms 
LM-1, LM-10, LM-20 and LM-21 instructions, to require mandatory 
electronic filing of these reports, with a temporary hardship exemption 
process for the annual Forms LM-10 and LM-21 modeled after the existing 
one for the annual Form LM-2 filers, as well as modify the Form LM-3 
and Form LM-4 hardship exemption process to eliminate the continuing 
hardship exemption process and correspond with that of the Form LM-2, 
which only permits temporary hardship exemption submissions, not 
continuing. The Department believes that reasonable changes must be 
made to the means by which the forms required under LMRDA Title II are 
filed. The most efficient way to provide meaningful access to this 
information by interested members of the public is to require that the 
reports filed by employers and labor relations consultants be filed in 
electronic form. This change will benefit the filers, employees, 
employers, union members, and the public, as well as the Department. 
Labor organizations of all sizes have generally accounted no 
difficulties in submitting the forms electronically, and Form LM-2 
filers have filed electronically since 2005, with no continuing 
hardship exemption since 2017. Some consultants have also already filed 
electronically in 2019, with little difficulty.
    The Department invites comments regarding any alternative 
procedures that might better address problems associated with mandatory 
electronic filing of the Forms LM-1, LM-3, LM-4, LM-10-, LM-20, and LM-
21.
    The mandatory Forms LM-1 and LM-20 e-filing, as well as the changes 
to the Forms LM-3 and LM-4, would begin immediately after the 
Department finalizes this ICR revision. Mandatory Form LM-21 and Form 
LM-10 e-filing, however, would begin for reports due in 2021.
    While no other changes to any other forms covered by this ICR are 
contemplated at this time, the agency seeks comments on any aspect of 
this

[[Page 70569]]

information collection. The Department will use the comments as it 
seeks to revise and extend OMB authorization under the PRA for this 
information collection.
    II. Review Focus: The Department is particularly interested in 
comments which:
     Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is 
necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, 
including whether the information will have practical utility;
     evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the 
burden of the proposed collection of information, including the 
validity of the methodology and assumptions used;
     enhance the quality, utility and clarity of the 
information to be collected; and
     minimize the burden of the collection of information on 
those who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate 
automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection 
techniques or other forms of information technology.
    III. Current Actions: The Department seeks to revise this 
information collection to provide for electronic filing. The 
information collected by OLMS is used by union members to help self-
govern their unions, by workers making decisions regarding their 
collective bargaining rights, by the general public, and as research 
material for both outside researchers and within the Department. The 
information is also used to assist the Department and other government 
agencies in detecting improper practices on the part of labor 
organizations, their officers and/or representatives, and is used by 
Congress in oversight and legislative functions.
    Burden Statement: The Department updated its ICR by providing 
estimates for the burden associated with the LMRDA Title IV election 
recordkeeping requirements and the voluntary CBA submission program. 
The Department also updated its estimates for LM report responses and 
total burden hours, as the Department revised its estimates based upon 
an average of the LM reports received over the most recent five-year 
period (FY14-18). See: https://www.dol.gov/olms/regs/compliance/enforcement_data.htm. The Department did not change the hourly burden 
estimates for Forms LM-1, LM-3, LM-4, LM-10, LM-20, and LM-21, due to 
the mandatory e-filing changes, since the changes will have little if 
any impact on filers. Form LM-3 and LM-4 filers submitted very few 
continuing hardship requests (just 33) in 2018, and just 1 so far in 
2019, with all of them rejected by the Department. Further, electronic 
filing is already available for Form LM-10, LM-20, and LM-21 filers, 
and will become available shortly for Form LM-1 filers, and the 
Department expects such filers to adapt quickly to EFS, due to the ease 
of the system and convenience of e-filing. Indeed, many have already 
filed electronically.
    The total burden for the Labor Organization and Auxiliary Reports 
information collection is summarized as follows:
    Type of Review: Revision.
    Agency: DOL-OLMS.
    Title of Collection: Labor Organization and Auxiliary Reports.
    OMB Control Number: 1245-0003.
    Affected Public: Private Sector--businesses or other for-profits, 
farms, and not-for-profit institutions; and Individuals or Households.
    Total Estimated Number of Responses: 35,297.
    Total Estimated Annual Burden Hours: 4,644,849
    Total Estimated Annual Other Costs Burden: $0.
    Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized 
and/or included in the request for the Office of Management and Budget 
(OMB) approval of the information collection request; they will also 
become a matter of public record.

    Dated: December 11, 2019.
Andrew R. Davis,
Chief of the Division of Interpretations and Standards, Office of 
Labor-Management Standards, U.S. Department of Labor.
[FR Doc. 2019-27578 Filed 12-20-19; 8:45 am]
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