On Friday, the federal government and the American people will be into the fourth day of the so-called government “shutdown.” The shutdown will impact certain pending employment matters, including those before the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), and at Federal Mediation & Conciliation Service (FMCS).
The EEOC website indicates that it is closed during the shutdown and is offering limited services. Among other things, the website instructs that employees or former employees can still go onto the EEOC website to file a claim. Accordingly, the time for an employee or former employee to file a charge of discrimination will not be extended because of the shutdown. The website does not specifically address how employers should proceed if they have a current due date for submission of a position statement or response to a request for information, but it does advise that “[i]f you have questions about the status of a pending charge, please call us when the government reopens.” The safest course is likely to comply with the filing deadlines. The EEOC’s voluntary mediation program is suspended during the shutdown.
The DOL website is more difficult to navigate for private sector employer because it focuses more on the 800,000 federal employers who are furloughed, not on private businesses with pending matters before the department. The site does contain a shutdown plan. During the shutdown, the DOL is permitted to work only on services that are considered absolutely essential and involve the safety of human life. The shutdown plan clarifies that the payment of unemployment insurance and workers’ compensation claims will proceed as usual and not be affected by the shutdown.
The NLRB is also closed. The website homepage includes a link to the Federal Register Notice regarding the effect of the closure on NLRB activities. Filing deadlines will be suspended, and hearings and representation elections are postponed.
The FMCS is not functioning except to mediate collective bargaining in labor negotiations involving National Defense industries, Acute Health Care industries, and Nuclear Power industries.
Employment matters pending in federal court will also be impacted, but not as immediately. The federal courts will remain open for the first 10 days of the shutdown and then the Judiciary will determine how to proceed. Accordingly, in the short term the courts will remain open, but it is yet to be determined what will happen after October 10, 2013. Read Western District of New York Chief Judge William M. Skretny’s statement on the issue.
