EEO-1 Filing Deadline Extended, and Other Impacts of the Government Shutdown on EEOC Timelines

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The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued questions and answers related to the impact of the government shutdown on EEOC timelines, including the annual filing of the EEO-1 form. Of particular interest are the following:

  • The period for filing the EEO-1 form, which normally ends on March 31 of each year, will open in early March and close on May 31, 2019. Employers subject to this filing requirement are (1) those subject to Title VII with 100 or more employees; and (2) federal contractors and first-tier subcontractors subject to Executive Order 11246 with 50 or more employees anda contract, subcontract, or purchase order amounting to $50,000 or more.
  • The EEOC is rescheduling intake appointments, mediations, and witness interviews that were supposed to have taken place during the shutdown.
  • The EEOC is now processing charges that were filed during the shutdown. It does not indicate whether the 180 day/300 day time period for filing charges was tolled during the shutdown, but we would expect them to take that position.
  • The shutdown did not affect the 90-day deadline for charging parties to file suit following receipt of a Notice of Right to Sue, even where a request for reconsideration was filed during the shutdown.
  • Responses to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests will likely be delayed, as no requests were processed during the shutdown.