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Prolonged Shutdown Stalls Employment Regulators and Courts

Employers should maintain compliance, expecting significant backlogs.

Overview

  • EEOC operations are largely suspended with about 95% of staff furloughed, though new charges are accepted to preserve timeliness while investigations and mediations are paused.
  • DOL reports 3,141 of 12,916 employees furloughed as most enforcement halts, with child labor probes continuing and the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs suspended.
  • NLRB has stopped processing new representation cases, postponed elections and hearings, paused case investigations and outreach, and tolled filing deadlines for the shutdown’s duration.
  • OSHA is limiting work to imminent danger and fatality investigations as programmed inspections, compliance assistance, training, and rulemaking are on hold.
  • Federal courts have operated on a limited basis since October 20 with CM/ECF available, and practitioners are warned that district practices vary and federal court filing deadlines are not automatically suspended.