What Documents Do I Need To Provide For A Fringe Benefit Fund Audit?

Question: My firm is signatory to the collective bargaining agreement between MARBA and the Laborers’ District Council of Chicago and Vicinity. My firm was recently selected for a field payroll review on behalf of the trustees of the Health and Welfare Department of the Union. The purpose of the review is to determine that the proper contributions due to the various fringe benefit funds have been made. The funds stated that it will be necessary for their accountants to have access to and be able to review company records, like quarterly and annual payroll taxes, individual employee earning records, cash disbursements, lists of employees, fringe benefit contribution reports and others. Do I need to provide access to these records?  

Answer: As part of their fiduciary responsibility to beneficiaries, Union Trust Funds* routinely conduct audits of signatory contractors to determine that proper contributions are being made by the contractor. These audits protect contractors by ensuring a level playing field for all. To meet the audit objective, labor and management fund trustees and legal counsel advise that the records noted above and others that are reasonably necessary to achieve the stated objective of the audit are to be provided by the contractor. If the contractor does not produce the records, and the funds insist on them, the fund can file a lawsuit to force the contractor to produce the records it feels are reasonably necessary for the audit.