How the government shutdown will affect HR

Summary

The federal funding lapse will suspend or curtail key employment-related functions across multiple agencies, creating immediate operational and compliance headaches for HR teams. USCIS — a fee-funded agency — will largely keep processing visa filings, but the Department of Labour will not process labour certification applications; the DHS E-Verify system is expected to be unavailable. The EEOC will accept charges but largely pause investigations, mediations and many public services. The DOL Wage and Hour Division will operate with a tiny fraction of staff and halt routine regulatory activity. The NLRB’s limited quorum plus the shutdown means union petitions, elections and unfair practice matters will slow or backlog. SHRM warns HR departments should prepare for furlough management, payroll changes and elevated employee anxiety.

Key Points

USCIS (fee-funded) may keep processing visa filings, but DOL will not process labour certification applications — that can delay hires that need LCAs.
DHS’s E-Verify is expected to be completely unavailable, though employers must still complete Form I-9s and comply with verification rules.
The EEOC will accept charges but largely pause investigations, mediations and many public-facing services, creating likely backlogs.
DOL Wage and Hour Division will run with minimal staff (only ~10 of 1,270 full-time employees), suspending routine investigations and regulatory work.
The NLRB is likely to halt much of its day-to-day work (cases, elections, investigations), adding to petition backlogs and procedural delays.
HR teams should prepare for furloughs, payroll adjustments, legal and compliance risk, and higher employee anxiety — impacts grow the longer the shutdown lasts.

Context and Relevance

Government shutdowns repeatedly show they cut off critical administrative and enforcement functions federal employers and private-sector HR rely on. This disruption affects hiring timelines, compliance workflows and dispute resolution — and can cascade into payroll and workforce planning problems for public and private organisations. For HR leaders, the shutdown raises immediate priorities: document retention and timelines, contingency payroll and benefits processes, communication plans for staff (especially federal contractors and affected employees), and a legal watch for paused investigations or litigation that may later resume with backlogs.

Author style

Punchy: this isn’t just bureaucratic churn — it’s a live operational risk. If you run recruitment, payroll or compliance, the knock-on effects can be material: hiring delays, verification gaps and enforcement backlogs that create liability and confusion. Read the detail so you can act, not react.

Why should I read this

Look, if you handle hiring, payroll or employee relations, this is the short list of what’ll stop and what you need to do next. It’ll save you a panicked 2 a.m. call from payroll or legal — check the bits on E-Verify, LCAs and EEOC pauses first.

Source

Source: https://www.hrdive.com/news/how-government-shutdown-affects-hr-2025/761617/