Working Together

As a result of the current federal government shutdown, several agencies regulating employment — the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the Department of Labor (DOL), and the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) — have ceased significant operations due to the lapse in appropriations.

While most services provided by these agencies are stalled, it’s important that employers stay informed (particularly if they have pending matters with any of the agencies), and speak with counsel to ensure they comply with any deadlines or filing requirements during the shutdown.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

The EEOC’s website states that “[d]uring the shutdown, information on this website will not be updated. Transactions submitted via the website will not be processed, and EEOC staff will not be able to respond to requests or questions submitted to the EEOC, including those submitted by email or through its website until appropriations are enacted.” See here.

The website further provides that most proceedings scheduled to take place during the shutdown  — such as interviews, mediations, hearings before Administrative Law Judges, and EEOC litigation — will be cancelled, and rescheduled once the government reopens. It also provides several parameters regarding deadlines and pending charges:

• For the filing of a charge that is within 60 days of the filing deadline, the EEOC recommends submitting a pre-charge inquiry online. The EEOC will review inquiries submitted through the EEOC Public Portal during the shutdown for appropriate handling, and will contact the filer if it appears that the charge filing deadline will expire within 14 days.
• The EEOC will not respond to inquiries about pending charges or investigate charges, but the recent status of charges is available on the EEOC Public Portal. 
• Time limits for filing a case in federal court are not suspended while the request is pending.
• EEOC will accept requests for reconsideration of its prior decisions, but the EEOC will not take any action on such requests until the federal government reopens.    
• For matters before an Administrative Law Judge, deadlines for completing discovery or submitting motions are suspended.
• The EEOC will accept federal sector appeals and requests for reconsideration during the shutdown. If the due dates for submitting appeal briefs and complaint files fall within the period of the government shutdown, the EEOC will generally extend these deadlines by the number of days the government is shut down.

For more information, or to see the EEOC’s full contingency plan, click here.

The U.S. Department of Labor

The DOL also released a contingency plan for activities during the lapse in appropriations, available here.

In the plan, the DOL outlines the agency activities that will continue and lapse during the shutdown.

Of note, the DOL will continue its work for “agencies funded by resources other than the annual appropriations, including the United States Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), and the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA); the provision of benefits to workers under entitlement programs; the protection of life and property in cases of imminent threat; and activities authorized to continue by necessary implication to carry out those functions and other excepted activities consistent with OMB and Department of Justice guidelines.”

The significant agency activities that will cease during the shutdown include:

• Veterans Employment and Training Service
• Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs
• Office of Disability Employment Policy
• Women’s Bureau
• Office of Administrative Law Judges
• Administrative Review Board
• Benefits Review Board
• Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board

The DOL further notes that all OSHA investigations will cease “unless they involve responding to or preventing fatalities, catastrophes, or imminent danger.”

National Labor Relations Board

The NLRB’s Contingency Plan, available here, similarly provides a summary of its activities that will continue, and those that will cease, during the course of the shutdown.

The NLRB lists case handling, the information office, and outreach and public affairs among the key activities that it will discontinue during the lapse in appropriations, and points out that the “citizen services” impacted by the suspension of these operations include:

• Representation Case Petition Docketing, Investigations, Hearings and Elections
• Unfair Labor Practice Charge Docketing, Investigations, Hearings, Complaints, and Settlements
• District, Circuit and Supreme Court Litigation – injunctions, enforcement, contempt, intervention
• Issuance of Administrative Law Judge and Board Decisions
• Resolution of Workplace Disputes – collective bargaining, protected concerted activities, representational issues
• Resolution of Employee/Employer Disputes with Unions
• Remedial Action - Backpay, Reinstatement, Reimbursement of Union Dues and Fees, and Bargaining Orders
• Information Officer Services
• Outreach and Congressional and Public Affairs Services, including public website
• Inspector General Services, other than the Hotline

The NLRB then notes that “emergency situations,” such as current or imminent labor disputes which are adverse to the public interest and require immediate attention, will be identified and brought to the attention of the appropriate Excepted Personnel for handling.

Should you have any questions regarding the impact of the federal government shutdown on any labor or employment matters you have pending before any of these agencies, feel free to contact a member of Pullman & Comley’s Labor, Employment Law & Employee Benefits practice.