Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS)

Printer-Friendly Version

Enforcement Coordination

As part of its enforcement program under the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA), the Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS) has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA). The Department of Labor (DOL) has also entered into a MOU with the Department of Justice (DOJ) with respect to enforcement of the LMRDA.

OLMS - EBSA Memorandum of Understanding

Copy of MOU

EBSA is responsible for enforcing the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) and related federal criminal laws. In this MOU, the two agencies agreed to actions to promote communication among senior management and to share information between OLMS and EBSA, including:

• EBSA will provide OLMS upon request with information generated from its Form 5500 database. The Form 5500 Annual Return/Report is a system of forms and schedules filed by employee benefit plans subject to ERISA.
• OLMS will provide EBSA with information from the Form LM-10, Employer Report, and Form LM-30, Labor Organization Officer and Employee Report, filed pursuant to the LMRDA.
• EBSA will notify OLMS of its investigations involving multiple employer welfare arrangements (MEWAs) suspected of being sham unions.
• ERISA and the LMRDA prohibit persons convicted of certain crimes from holding certain positions with an employee benefit plan (in the case of ERISA) or with a labor organization (in the case of the LMRDA). The agencies will exchange copies of debarment letters they send to union trustees and union officials who have been convicted of a covered crime.

DOL - DOJ Memorandum of Understanding on the LMRDA

Copy of MOU

On January 18, 2005, Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao and Attorney General John Ashcroft signed a new MOU relating to the investigation and prosecution of crimes and civil enforcement actions under the LMRDA. This MOU replaced a 1960 MOU signed shortly after the passage of the LMRDA. The MOU was entered into pursuant to section 607 of the LMRDA which provides that the Secretary of Labor may make interagency agreements to avoid unnecessary expense and duplication of functions among government agencies and ensure cooperation and mutual assistance in the performance of functions under the LMRDA. Among other things, the MOU provides:

• All LMRDA cases involving violation of the criminal provisions of the Act will be prosecuted by the Department of Justice (DOJ).
• Subject to specific agreements between DOJ and the Department of Labor (DOL) on a case-by-case basis, DOL will investigate criminal matters arising under LMRDA:

• Title II (reporting by labor organizations, labor organization officers and employees, employers, labor relations consultants, and surety companies)
• Title III (trusteeships)Section 501(c) (embezzlement of union funds)Section 502 (bonding of labor organization officers, employees, and other representative who handle funds of the union)Section 503 (prohibition against making certain loans to labor organization officers and employees and paying their fines)Section 504 (prohibition on persons convicted of certain crimes from holding union office or employment, or other positions)Section 602 (extortionate picketing)
• Section 610 (deprivation of rights by force or violence).

• Subject to specific agreements between DOJ and DOL on a case-by-case basis, DOJ will investigate criminal matters arising under LMRDA Section 505 (containing an amendment to section 302 of the Labor Management Relations Act, 1947, as amended) and, under delegation from the Secretary of Labor:

• Section 501(c)(embezzlement of union funds)
• Section 504 (prohibition on persons convicted of certain crimes from holding union office or employment, or other positions)
• Section 610 (deprivation of rights by force or violence).

• DOJ will institute and conduct civil enforcement action on behalf of the Secretary of Labor when DOL has provided DOJ with all pertinent information and requested civil enforcement action.
• As set forth in detail in the MOU, DOL and DOJ will cooperate on matters arising under section 504(a)(B) (judicial determination that a disqualified person's service in any prohibited capacity would not be contrary to the purposes of the LMRDA) and section 504(a) with respect to judicial reduction of the period of disability.

Last Updated: 12/21/07