Olms interpretative Manual

PAYMENTS EXCEPTED UNDER TAFT-HARTLEY:PAYMENTSOF DISPUTED CLAIMS

253.401LMRA,SECTION302(c)(2)

. . . with respect to the payment or delivery of any money or other thing of value insatisfaction of a judgment of any court or a decision or award of an arbitrator or impartialchairman or in compromise, adjustment, settlement, or release of any claim, complaint,grievance,ordisputeintheabsenceoffraudorduress;...

PAYMENTS EXCEPTED UNDER TAFT-HARTLEY:SALESANDPURCHASES ATMARKETPRICES

253.501LMRA,SECTION302(c)(3)

. . . with respect to the sale or purchase of an article or commodity at the prevailing market priceintheregularcourseofbusiness;...

253.505STOCKPURCHASEPLAN

Where an employer has a stock purchase plan under which all employees may purchase stockatadiscount,noreportsaredue fromtheemployerwithregardtothebenefitgivenunionofficers who are regular employees since the “benefit” is deemed to be additional compensationwithinthe meaning ofsection302(c)(1)ofTaft-Hartley.

PAYMENTS EXCEPTED UNDER TAFT-HARTLEY:DUESDEDUCTED FROM WAGES

253.601LMRA,SECTION302(c)(4)

. . . with respect to money deducted from the wages of employees in payment of membershipdues in a labor organization: Provided, That the employer has received from each employee, onwhose account such deductions are made, a written assignment which shall not be irrevocable fora period of more than one year, or beyond the termination date of the applicable collectiveagreement,whichever occurs sooner; . . .

253.605CHECKOFFNEGOTIATEDBYSUPERIORBODY

Where a superior labor organization, such as a District Lodge of Machinists, negotiates acollective bargaining agreement with an employer under which there is a bona fide dues checkoff agreement which on its face meets the terms and conditions of section 302(c)(4) of theLMRA, 1947, as amended, no employer report, pursuant to section 203(a)(1) of the LMRDA, isrequired where by direction of the District Lodge the dues are sent directly to the local lodge inwhich the employees of the employer are members, even though the local lodge does notnegotiatethe agreement.

253.610REPORTABLEDUESPAYMENTS

If payments of employees’ union dues are made by an employer in accordance with section302(c)(4) of the LMRA, the employer is exempted from the reporting requirements of section203(a)(1) of the LMRDA with respect to such payments.Otherwise, e.g., if the payments aremade from the employer’s own funds or if they are made without an assignment meeting thestatutory requirements, a report is necessary and should be made in such detail as is prescribedbysection203(a)oftheLMRDA.

253.625“DUES”INCLUDESINITIATIONFEESANDASSESSMENTS

The Department of Justice has taken the position that “initiation fees and assessments, beingincidents of membership, should be considered as falling within the classification of membershipdues’ as that term is used in section 302(c)(4) of the LMRA.Memorandum of AssistantAttorneyGeneraltoAssistantSolicitorGeneral,May13,1948,22LRRM46.

NOTE:
In view of this opinion, no reports are required under section 203 of LMRDA of the paymentof initiation fees or assessments by an employer to a union under a validcheck offarrangementin writingprovidingforthe payment of“membershipdues.”

253.630ASSESSMENTS

A check off arrangement for assessments which parallels the requirements for the check offof membership dues would not be considered improper.That is, where “the employer hasreceived from each employee, on whose account such deductions are made, a written assignmentwhich shall not be irrevocable for a period of more than one year, or beyond the termination dateof the applicable collective agreement, whichever occurs sooner,” a check off of assessmentswouldbeproper.

253.640EMPLOYERDEDUCTIONOFSUPERVISORDUES

An employer is required by section 203(a)(1) of the LMRDA to report union dues deductedfor supervisors formerly covered by a collective bargaining agreement and remitted to the union,unless such payment could be regarded as a payment “of the kind referred to in section 302(c) ofthe LMRA, 1947, as amended.”The only portion of that exemption which would have anyapplicability in such an instance is section 302(c) (4) exempting “money deducted from thewages of employees in payment of membership dues in a labor organization” subject to aprovisionthatthedeductionbeauthorizedbytheemployeebywrittenassignment.

In making such a determination it would be necessary to consider the broad definition of“employee” in section 3(f) of LMRDA as “any individual employed by an employer,” and themorerestricteddefinitionin section2(3)oftheLMRA,whichexpresslyexcludesfromthat
category “any individual employed as a supervisor.”When section 302(c) (4) is placed in thesetting of the LMRDA, and absent the considerations which motivated Congress to excludesupervisors from the definition of “employee” in drafting the LMRA, our view is that the broaderdefinition of “employee” in section 3(f) of the LMRDA appropriately applies to the 302(c) (4)exemption as it is adopted by the LMRDA.Consequently, reporting would not be required ofpaymentsto unions for deductionsfromsupervisors’ wages formembership in the union.

253.641EMPLOYER-MEMBERPAYINGDUES

SeeManualEntry253.007.

253.650DUESDEDUCTIONSFROMPENSIONPAYMENTS

The deduction of union dues from pension payments to retired employees who are unionmembers is not prohibited by section 302(a) of the Labor Management Relations Act and wouldnot have to be reported under section 203 of the LMRDA, if such deductions are made pursuanttoacollectivebargainingagreementandhavebeenvoluntarilyauthorizedinwriting.