Interpretation of the “Advice” Exemption in Section 203(c) of the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act

The Office of Labor-Management Standards of the Department of Labor ("Department") published a final rule on March 24, 2016. The final rule revises the Form LM-20 Agreement and Activities Report and the Form LM-10 Employer Report, which are filed with the Department pursuant to the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA). In the final rule, the Department revises its interpretation of the advice exemption in section 203(c) of the LMRDA to better effectuate section 203's requirement that employers and their labor relations consultants report activities undertaken with an object, directly or indirectly, to persuade employees about how to exercise their rights to union representation and collective bargaining. The revised interpretation provides employees with important information that would enable them to consider the source of the information about union representation directed at them when assessing the merits of the arguments and deciding how to exercise their rights. The Department has also revised the forms and instructions to make them more user-friendly and to require more detailed reporting on employer and consultant agreements. Additionally, with this rule, the Department requires that Forms LM-10 and LM-20 be filed electronically. In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA), the Department of Labor announces that the Office of Management and Budget has approved the information collection requirements contained in the final rule.