On October 1, 2025, the federal government shut down after Congress failed to approve a resolution to fund the government. As a result, several federal agencies, including the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) and National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”), have issued contingency plans to maintain essential operating functions while also furloughing a significant percentage of their staff.

The EEOC’s Shutdown Contingency Plan indicates that it will furlough approximately 1,686 employees, while keeping a significantly reduced staff of around 128 employees “to protect life and property”. The remaining staff will accept and docket new charges of discrimination, evaluate if the new charges require “prompt judicial action”, litigate lawsuits, maintain security, and perform necessary administrative support. The EEOC will not investigate new claims; respond to emails, correspondence, or faxes from the public; litigate claims in federal court; conduct mediations; decide on appeals of discrimination complaints; attend hearings; or process Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) requests.

The NLRB also released a Contingency Plan for Shutdown in the Absence of Appropriations which states that it expects to furlough approximately 1,181 employees. The plan indicates that only 14 employees will be working during the government shutdown. The NLRB will continue to perform necessary court actions “to protect federal legal actions already taken or established” and operate and monitor the Office of Inspector General Hotline and emergency contact to ensure safety of life and protection of property. Otherwise, the NLRB will not process new representation petitions or handle cases and investigations. All hearings are postponed, and filing deadlines are tolled.

It is unclear at this time how long the government shutdown will last. As such, employers should expect the shutdown to last several weeks. We have already seen the government shutdown impact several employment cases involving the EEOC and NLRB. Charges before the EEOC will not be reviewed or investigated, which will impact deadlines for employers’ responses to these charges. Attorneys likely will be unable to reach EEOC investigators during the shutdown to determine when these deadlines will be set. Since the EEOC is still accepting and docketing new charges, it is also likely that there will be a backlog of investigations when government operations resume.

Federal courts initially remained operational during the shutdown. However, the judiciary anticipates that it will cease operations on or around October 17, 2025. This means that employment-related cases in federal courts will also experience delays and may be stayed when operations cease. Employers should continue to monitor the status of the government shutdown to ensure that it is prepared for EEOC, NLRB, and other employment-related cases to resume when the government returns to normal operations.