Federal Employee Rights During the Government Shutdown

Thank you for everyone who joined us for our first Federal Employee Symposium.

HKM is a national employment law firm that represents individuals and workers in all aspects of employment law. The firm has offices in Chicago, Los Angeles, Seattle, Portland, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Denver, St. Louis, and Pittsburgh.

Please note that our roundtable was being presented for information purposes only and that no attorney-client relationship can or will be created with HKM or any of its lawyers except by a written engagement letter signed by both HKM and the client. Please note as well that the selection of an attorney is an important matter that should not be based solely on advertising materials.

Additional Resources

The United States Office of Personnel Management has issued a Fact Sheet entitled, “Pay and Benefits Information for Employees Affected by the Lapse in Appropriations”, which, along with many other resources regarding the funding lapse, can be found at: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/furlough-guidance/#url=Shutdown-Furlough

On January 15, 2019, legislation was introduced into Congress which, if passed, would allow federal employees and certain federal contractors impacted by the shutdown to take penalty-free distributions from their retirement accounts. You can track the progress of that legislation here: https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/116/hr545

On January 17, 2019, legislation was introduced into Congress which, if passed, would allow for interest-free loans of up to $6,000 for federal employees impacted by the shutdown. You can track the progress of that legislation here: https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/116/hr657

If you have been issued discipline during the shutdown and have appeal rights to the Merit Systems Protection Board, or if you have a currently pending appeal before the Merit Systems Protection Board, the MSPB has issued a press release regarding the impact of the shutdown on MSPB operations and appeal deadlines: https://www.mspb.gov/

If you have a discrimination complaint pending at the Administrative Judge/Hearing stage of the EEOC, information about the impact on your hearing date and related deadlines can be found at the following link, under “Federal Sector Hearings”: https://www.eeoc.gov/shutdown.cfm

The Fact Sheet from Office of Personnel Management regarding Pay and Benefits Information (updated 1/23/19) can be found here: https://chcoc.gov/content/fact-sheet-pay-and-benefits-information-employees-affected-lapse-appropriations

The Memorandum to Heads of Agencies from Office of Personnel Management which addresses incidents of AWOL during the funding lapse can be found at: https://chcoc.gov/content/answers-frequently-asked-funding-lapse-questions

Unemployment Offices By State

Alabama Department of Labor
https://labor.alabama.gov/unemployment.aspx

State of Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development
http://labor.alaska.gov/unemployment

Arizona Department of Economic Security
https://des.az.gov/services/employment/unemployment-individual/apply-ui-benefits

Arkansas Department of Workforce Services
https://www.unemploymentoffice.org/arkansas

California Employment Development Department
https://www.edd.ca.gov/unemployment/

Colorado Department of Labor & Employment
https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/cdle/unemployment

Connecticut Department of Labor
http://www.ctdol.state.ct.us/UI-Online/Index.htm

State of Delaware Department of Labor Visit Website
https://ui.delawareworks.com/

Florida Department of Economic Opportunity
http://www.floridajobs.org/job-seekers-community-services/reemployment-assistance-center/general-information/contact-the-office

Georgia Department of Labor
https://dol.georgia.gov/get-unemployment-assistance

Hawaii Department of Labor and Industrial Relations
http://labor.hawaii.gov/ui/

Idaho Department of Labor
https://www2.labor.idaho.gov/ClaimantPortal/Login?ReturnUrl=%2fClaimantPortal

Illinois Employment Security
http://www.ides.illinois.gov/Pages/Unemployment%20Insurance.aspx

Indiana Department of Workforce Development
https://www.in.gov/dwd/

Iowa Unemployment Insurance Services Division
https://www.iowaworkforcedevelopment.gov/

Kansas Unemployment Insurance System
https://www.dol.ks.gov/

Kentucky Office of Employment and Training
https://kcc.ky.gov/career/If-you-are-Unemployed/Pages/default.aspx

Louisiana Workforce Commission
http://www.ldol.state.la.us/

Maine Department of Labor
https://www.maine.gov/unemployment/

Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation
https://www.dllr.state.md.us/employment/unemployment.shtml

Massachusetts Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development
https://www.mass.gov/unemployment-insurance-ui-online

Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency
https://www.michigan.gov/uia

Minnesota Unemployment Insurance
http://www.uimn.org/uimn/

Mississippi Department of Employment Security
https://www.mdes.ms.gov/

Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations
https://labor.mo.gov/

Montana Unemployment Insurance Division
http://uid.dli.mt.gov/

Nebraska Workforce Development
https://dol.nebraska.gov/UIBenefits

Nevada Department of Employment, Training & Rehabilitation
http://detr.state.nv.us/

New Hampshire Employment Security
https://www.nhes.nh.gov/services/claimants/file.htm

New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development
https://www.nj.gov/labor/ui/file.html

New Mexico Unemployment Office
https://www.dws.state.nm.us/

New York State Department of Labor
https://labor.ny.gov/unemploymentassistance.shtm

Employment Security Commission of North Carolina
https://des.nc.gov/des

Job Service North Dakota
http://www.jobsnd.com/

Ohio Department of Job and Family Services
https://unemployment.ohio.gov/PublicSelfServiceChoice.html

Oklahoma Employment Security Commission
https://www.ok.gov/oesc/Claimants/

State of Oregon Unemployment Insurance
https://www.oregon.gov/EMPLOY/Unemployment/Pages/default.aspx#

Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry
https://www.uc.pa.gov/Pages/default.aspx

Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training
http://www.dlt.ri.gov/ui/

South Carolina Employment Security Commission
https://dew.sc.gov/

South Dakota Department of Labor
https://dlr.sd.gov/ui/default.aspx

Tennessee Department of Labor
https://www.tn.gov/workforce/unemployment.html

Texas Workforce
https://twc.texas.gov/jobseekers/unemployment-benefits

Utah Department of Workforce Services
https://jobs.utah.gov/ui/home/

Vermont Department of Labor
http://labor.vermont.gov/unemployment-insurance/

Virginia Employment Commission
http://www.vec.virginia.gov/unemployed

Washington Employment Security Department
https://esd.wa.gov/unemployment

Work Force West Virginia
http://workforcewv.org/unemployment.html

Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development
https://dwd.wisconsin.gov/ui/

Wyoming Department of Employment
http://www.wyomingworkforce.org/workers/ui/