“Be patient.” That’s the advice general counsel are getting on how to deal with the ongoing U.S. government shutdown. With almost every federal agency on autopilot and over 100,000 employees furloughed, it’s hard to think of a better plan. Briggs and Morgan veteran Mike Moberg has almost two decades of employment law experience and a few ideas for counsel in the meantime.
Be aware of deadlines and statutes of limitation
Most federal agencies that have ceased operations are pushing up paperwork deadlines during the shutdown—but not all of them. The National Labor Relations Board is granting time extensions wherever it can, but it hasn’t nixed the six-month statute of limitations to file an unfair labor practice charge, according to Moberg.
“[General counsel] need to make sure they still keep track of those timelines because the government shutdown doesn’t extend that,” he said. “If your six-month statute of limitations will run [out] in the next few weeks, you better make sure you get your charge filed.” The NLRB isn’t making it easy—documents can’t be filed electronically until the shutdown ends. Moberg recommends faxing and snail-mailing, just to be safe.
