Olms interpretative Manual

PAYMENTS EXCEPTED UNDER TAFT-HARTLEY:PAYMENTSTOLABORMANAGEMENTCOMMITTEE

*253.960LMRA,SECTION302(c)(9)

…with respect to money or other things of value paid by an employer to a plant, area orindustrywide labor management committee established for one or more of the purposes set forthinsection5(b) ofthe LaborManagement CooperationActof 1978.

(NOTE: Subsection (b)(7) of section 302 of the Labor Management Relations Act, 1947 wasadded by Public Law 91-86, Oct. 14, 1969; subsection (b)(8) by Public Law 93-95, Aug. 15,1973;andsubsection(b)(9)bysection6(d)ofPublicLaw95-524,Oct.27,1978.

ADDITIONAL NOTE: Section 5(b) of the Labor Management Cooperation Act of 1978probablymeanssection6(b)ofPublicLaw 95-524(92Stat.2020;29U.S.C.175anote).)

December,2016

PAYMENTSTOEMPLOYEES

254.001LMRDA,SECTION203(a)(2)

...any payment (including reimbursed expenses) to any of his employees, or any group orcommittee of such employees, for the purpose of causing such employee or group or committeeof employees to persuade other employees to exercise or not to exercise, or as the manner ofexercising, the right to organize and bargain collectively through representatives of their ownchoosing unless such payments were contemporaneously or previously disclosed to such otheremployees;…

LMRDA,SECTION203(e)

Nothingcontainedinthissectionshallbeconstruedtorequireanyregularofficer,supervisor,or employee of an employer to file a report in connection with services rendered to suchemployer nor shall any employer be required to file a report covering expenditures made to anyregularofficer,supervisor, oremployee ofan employerascompensationforservicesasaregular

officer,supervisor,oremployeeofsuchemployer.
SeeREGULARWAGEEXCEPTION,ManualEntries253.300ff.

254.005EMPLOYERASSISTANCETO“GRIEVANCECOMMITTEE”

Where in connection with an organizational drive run by a national union to organize theemployees of a particular employer, there is established a “Grievance Committee” to which theemployer furnishes assistance by permitting production workers to cease their normal duties andengage in electioneering during regular working hours in favor of the “Grievance Committee” asagainst the “outside union,” a report is required of the employer under section 203(a)(2) iftheemployer does not make a contemporaneous disclosure in some affirmative way that he isallowing the previously mentioned production workers to leave their normal work in order to"electioneer"for the "Grievance Committee."

254.100NONEXEMPTPAYMENTS

The exemption in section 203(e) applies only to expenditures made for services which areperformed by employees in the regular and ordinary course of their employment. Such maybethe case, depending on the particular circumstances, for payments falling under section 203(a)(2). For example, where an employer prepares a message to his employees which attempts topersuade employees as to the manner of exercising their right to organize, and the employer thenhas the message conveyed to all plant employees through his labor relations director who is aregular staff member, no report would be due under section 203(a) (2) because the directorwould be performing as a regular employee within the meaning of section 203(e). However, ifthe employer called in one of his old and trusted employees who was a drill press operator forexample, and asked him (without disclosing the assignment to other employees) to persuade hisfellow employees as to their right to organize, then a report would be due from the employerunder 203(a)(2).

254.200FURNISHINGSTRIKEBREAKERS

The mere furnishing of replacements for strikers is not itself sufficient to require reporting. Iftheobject of the replacements is solely to keep the business going, then the arrangement wouldprobably not come within section 203(a)(4) and 203(b), even though the replacements mightincidentally have persuasive effect. The duties performed or assigned could be evidentiary. If theduties were limited to those of the persons replaced, that could be an indication of a purposeother than persuasion; but if they in fact included violence, missionary work and the like, thiscouldbeanindicationthattheoriginal arrangementwaswithinthereportingrequirement.

However, the employer would have to report under 203(a) (2), regardless of the original"object" of the arrangement for the furnishing of the men, if the men were in fact used to domissionary work or otherwise to persuade the employees to abandon the union or the strike,unless the fact that they were being paid for such duties were contemporaneously disclosed to theemployees.

254.300INDUSTRIALRELATIONSCOUNSELOR

Several parts of the employer report form contain exclusion for payments and expendituresmade to a regular officer, supervisor or employer as compensation for service as a regularofficer, supervisor or employee. Accordingly, an employer will not be required to report in thoseparts payments made to an industrial relations counselor in his capacity as full-time director ofindustrialrelations.