U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

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Office of Public Affairs

OPA Press Release: Department of Labor Withdraws "Revised Interpretation" of Advice Exemption[04/11/2001]

WASHINGTON - The Department of Labor published a notice in the Federal Register today that it was withdrawing the "revised interpretation" of the Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act's (LMRDA) advice exemption published by the Clinton Administration on January 11, 2001. The effect of withdrawing this "revised interpretation" will be to maintain the current interpretation, one that the Department has used since 1962.

The LMRDA has an exemption to reporting requirements for those activities considered to be advisory in nature. The Department of Labor has maintained the same interpretation of that exemption since 1962 - an interpretation upheld by the U.S. Court of Appeals.

On January 11, 2001, the Clinton Administration's Department of Labor published in the Federal Register a notice that it was "revising" that forty-year old interpretation. The "revised" interpretation had never even been submitted for public comment prior to the January 11 announcement.