U.S. Department of Labor Employment Standards Administration
Office of Labor-Management Standards
St. Louis District Office
1222 Spruce Street
Room 9 109E
St. Louis, MO 63103
(314)539-2667 . Fax: (314)539-2626
May 7, 2008
Mr. Jeff Haantz, Financial Secretary
Carpenters LU 795
1401 Hampton Avenue, Room 201
St. Louis, MO 63139
LM File Number 032-346
Case Number: -
Dear Mr. Haantz:
This office has recently completed an audit of Carpenters Local 795 under the
Compliance Audit Program (CAP) to determine your organization's compliance with
the provisions of the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959
(LMRDA). As discussed during the exit interview with you on April 25,2008, the
following problems were disclosed during the CAP. The matters listed below are not
an exhaustive list of all possible problem areas since the audit conducted was limited in
scope.
Recordkeeping Violation
Title II of the LMRDA establishes certain reporting and recordkeeping requirements. Section 206 requires, among other things, that labor organizations maintain adequate records for at least five years by which each receipt and disbursement of funds, as well as all account balances, can be verified, explained, and clarified. As a general rule, labor organizations must maintain all records used or received in the course of union business.
For disbursements, this includes not only original bills, invoices, receipts, vouchers, and
applicable resolutions, but also documentation showing the nature of the union
business requiring the disbursement, the goods or services received, and the identity of
the recipient(s) of the goods or services. In most instances, this documentation
requirement can be satisfied with a sufficiently descriptive expense receipt or invoice. If
an expense receipt is not sufficiently descriptive, a union officer or employee should
write a note on it providing the additional information. For money it receives, the labor
organization must keep at least one record showing the date, purpose, and
source of that money. The labor organization must also retain bank records for all
accounts.
The audit of Local 795's 2007 records revealed the following recordkeeping violation:
Local 795 did not maintain records to verify that the salaries reported in Item 24 (All Officers and Disbursements to Officers) of the LM-3 was the authorized amount and therefore was correctly reported. The union must keep a record, such as meeting minutes, to show the current salary authorized by the entity or individual in the union with the authority to establish salaries.
Based on your assurance that Local 795 will retain adequate documentation in the future, OLMS will take no further enforcement action at this time regarding the above violations.
I want to extend my personal appreciation to Carpenters Local 795 for the cooperation and courtesy extended during this compliance audit. I strongly recommend that you make sure this letter and the compliance assistance materials provided to you are passed on to future officers. If we can provide any additional assistance, please do not hesitate to call.
Sincerely,
Investigator
cc: Stephen Robbins, President