Department of Labor
Department of Labor Forms
The Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act requires labor organizations to report certain financial transactions and administrative practices to the U.S. Department of Labor, and sets standards regarding the election of union officers.
The APWU and its local and state affiliates are governed by the LMRDA. Elected officers — especially those with responsibility for union finances or elections — should obtain a copy of the law and familiarize themselves with its requirements.
Form LM-2
Every labor organization subject to the LMRDA must file a financial report each year with the U.S. Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS). Unions with total annual receipts of $250,000 or more must file the Form LM-2.
Every APWU local must file a financial report each year with the U.S. Labor Department's Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS). Locals with total annual receipts of $250,000 or more must file Form LM-2 electronically.
The electronic filing of your 2010 LM-2 report will not require a digital signature. Local officers and their accountants/CPA’s will be able to work on the report online from different locations. The new format, named Electronic Forms System (EFS) requires registration with the Department of Labor before you can access the LM-2 form.
Registering With the OLMS Electronic Forms System (EFS)
The first step for using EFS is to register with the system. Individual users and labor organizations must both complete the registration process before an LM report can be accessed.
Registering an Individual User
There are two types of individual users:
- Preparers — users who prepare the form (accountants, administrative assistants, officers, etc.)
- Signing Officials — union officers who will be required to sign the form.
An individual user must identify as either a signing official or a preparer when registering with EFS and will choose a unique username and password during the registration process. If you are a signing official who will also be preparing a form, please identify yourself as a signing official.
EFS guides users through the registration process step-by-step. Upon successful registration EFS will send an email confirmation.
Obtaining a PIN for Labor Organization
Labor organizations must first obtain a PIN (Private Identification Number) in order to obtain their LM-2 form. Upon completing the registration process, OLMS will email a unique PIN to the email address provided during the PIN registration process as well as mail that information in a letter to the labor organization’s address provided during registration.
Note: Labor organizations that are required to file a Form LM-2 must register with EFS and submit their LM report using the new system. With the inception of the new EFS system, LM-2 filers are no longer required to purchase and use digital signatures.
To sign and submit a report, each signing official must enter his/her unique User ID and password, the union’s LM file number, and the union’s unique PIN.
The Registration Help page offers general information about registering for EFS. A tutorial on the Electronic Forms System (EFS) is available as well.
The Electronic Forms System (EFS) Guide to Preparing the LM-2 [PDF] guides users through the process of preparing and completing the form, providing instructions and navigation tips to help you download the form, enter information directly onto the form, import data files extracted from the union's accounting system into the form, and sign and submit the form.
Form LM-2 itself includes an online help system. To view help for a specific item or field, hover your mouse over a field to display a pop-up help message. To access the form instructions for the page you are on, click on the "Help" link at the top of the page. The form instructions provide specific item-by-item instructions for completing the form.
Technical specifications for importing electronic data into the form will help unions convert their financial data into a format that can be imported into their form if they so choose.
If you have difficulty navigating the software, or have questions about its functions and features, you can get help in the following ways:
- Call the OLMS Help Desk at 1-866-401-1109 (toll free).
- Call the Department of Labor's National Call Center at 1-866-487-2365 (toll free).
- Email your question to olms-public@dol.gov.
Form LM-3
The Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act requires every APWU local and state organization to file a financial report each year with Department of Labor. Locals/state with total annual receipts (dues rebates) of less than $250,000 and more than $10,000 must file the Form LM-3 [PDF] | [LM_3 Tutorial - PDF] [LM-3 instructions - PDF]
Form LM-4
The Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act requires every APWU local and state organization to file a financial report each year with Department of Labor. Locals/state with total annual receipts (dues rebates) of less than $10,000 must file Form LM-4 [PDF].
[LM-4 Tutorial - PDF] [LM-4 instructions - PDF]
Local unions that do not receive dues rebates should contact the Secretary-Treasurer’s Department concerning their filing requirements.
On May 1, 2011, OLMS made its Electronic Forms System (EFS) available to LM-3 and LM-4 filers. EFS allows any APWU affiliate(locals, state organizations, retiree chapters) with a web-enabled computer the ability to complete, sign, and electronically file an LM-2, LM-3, or LM-4 without purchasing a digital signature or downloading special software. EFS provide many features to help ease the process of completing annual reporting forms including performing calculations and providing a form validation check prior to submission to OLMS. EFS also allows affiliates that maintain electronic accounting records to import financial data from their accounting programs directly into the LM form using the same import files they are using now.
Those APWU affiliates with both a computer and internet access should use EFS both for preparing and transmitting the completed form electronically. The form does not need to be mailed to the DOL; EFS transmits the completed form electronically.
The electronic LM report can be saved as a PDF file for local records. While you are in EFS, click the Print menu item in the upper right-hand corner of the screen (see graphic below).
After you click Print, a PDF version will appear on screen which can be saved. Please email this PDF file to mthompson@apwu.org to document local compliance with the requirements of Article 16 of the APWU National Constitution.
Form LM-30
Pursuant to section 202 of the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA), the Department established the Form LM-30, which is intended to make public any actual or likely conflict between the personal interests of union officers and employees and their obligations to the union and its members. These conflicts concern payments, interests, and transactions involving: (1) the employers whose employees the union represents or actively seeks to represent; (2) vendors and service providers to such employers, the official’s union, or union’s trust; and (3) other employers from which a payment could create a conflict.
Final Rule: Form LM-30, Labor Organization Officer and Employee Report
In 2007, the Department published a final rule that expanded the length and complexity of the form and instructions, as well as the scope of individuals required to file and the breadth of information required to be reported. Upon an examination of the policy and legal justifications for and utility of the changes, and following a July 2009 stakeholder meeting, the Department proposed revisions to the 2007 Form LM-30.
This final rule shortens the form from nine to two pages, and effectuates changes in the following five substantive areas of the Form LM-30 reporting requirements:
- Union shop stewards, as a general rule, are not required to file the form;
- Union leave and no docking payments ( i.e. , payments to union officials, who are also employees of the employer, for work done for the union on employer time) are not required to be reported;
- Bona fide financial transactions with credit institutions, including loans, are not reportable;
- Payments from employers competitive to the represented employer are reportable only if they represent an actual or likely conflict, and payments from unions (other than staff unions) and their trusts are not required to be reported; and
- International, national, and intermediate union officers have a continuing obligation to report potential conflicts regarding locals and other subordinate unions (referred to as “top-down reporting”). While the 2007 rule excluded employees from the top-down reporting requirement, this final rule requires top-down reporting by higher-level employees who exercise “significant authority or influence” over a subordinate union.
This rule takes effect on November 25, 2011. The changes made to the Form LM-30 reporting requirements will apply to reports required by union officials with fiscal years beginning on or after January 1, 2012. For fiscal years beginning before that date, OLMS will accept the Revised (2011) Form LM-30, the 2007 Form LM-30, or the Pre-2007 Form LM-30. Accordingly, for fiscal years beginning before January 1, 2012, OLMS will refrain from initiating enforcement actions against union officers and union employees due to failure to file the report required by section 202, based solely on the use of a particular form, as long as individuals meet their statutorily-required filing obligation in some manner.
Click here for the LM-30 Tutorial
Click here for the LM-30 Form and instructions.
Click here to search the DOL database for your local’s LM reports for the last five years
