At the time of writing, the federal government is shut down due to a lapse in appropriations, which means that Congress and the President have not been able to agree on how to fund the various agencies and other services Americans rely on. This shutdown started at 12:00am on October 1, 2025, and will continue until Congress passes a funding bill and the President signs it. The shutdown has also had a trickle-down effect in the Austin area.

So what does this mean for workers? If you work for the federal government and you were furloughed or laid off during the shutdown, you may be eligible for unemployment benefits and should contact the Texas Workforce Commission immediately. The rest of this blog post considers how the rights of workers employed by private companies are impacted by the shutdown.

Federal government agencies currently lack the funding to do their jobs.

Typically, when workers or the attorneys who represent them find out about illegal conduct in the workplace and want to resolve it, they rely on one or more government agencies. When the issue is employment discrimination, employment lawyers turn to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, or the EEOC. The EEOC processes and investigates charges of employment discrimination under federal law. When the issue is a company interfering with union activity or collective bargaining, or even interfering with workers coming together to advocate for better conditions, employment lawyers turn to the National Labor Relations Board, or the NLRB. And when the issue is workplace safety or certain kinds of whistleblower retaliation, employment lawyers turn to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or OSHA, a division of the U.S. Department of Labor.

However, because of the federal government shutdown, none of these agencies are able to review or process charges or complaints, investigate claims, or make any decisions. Some agencies, like the NLRB, have even delisted all of their helpful resources from their public-facing website, including complaint forms! This is a critical problem because many employment law causes of action cannot proceed in state or federal court without first going through something called “administrative exhaustion,” which means you took all steps through a government agency’s process before filing.

And speaking of federal courts, they are impacted by the shutdown as well. While they remain open as of writing, their funding is set to run out by approximately October 17, 2025. Anyone who wants to sue their employer, whether because they have gone through administrative exhaustion or because there is none, might not be able to do so in federal court after October 17 until funding resumes.

State and local agencies investigate employment issues too!

So what are workers and their attorneys to do? Despite the federal government shutdown, state and local agencies still have the power to investigate employment issues in Texas. The state agency is the Texas Workforce Commission, or the TWC. Most Texans first interact with the TWC to apply for unemployment benefits, but the Texas Workforce Commission Civil Rights Division, or TWCCRD, has the power to investigate employment discrimination that happens in Texas. The TWC also investigates violations of the Texas Payday Law, which requires employers to pay their employees in full and on time.

However, if you work in Austin or Fort Worth, those cities have their own agencies that cover you for employment discrimination issues instead of the TWC. If you work in Austin, the agency is the City of Austin Office of Equity and Inclusion—Civil Rights Division. If you work in Fort Worth, the agency is the Fort Worth Civil Rights Office.

State courts also remain open for business and can pick up the slack from federal courts when workers have a claim that is ripe for litigation.

We can help you navigate employment issues during the shutdown!

Deciding where, how, and when to take action in employment issues is what employment lawyers are experts in. It is especially important to speak to an employment lawyer about your employment issues during the shutdown because of the current information blackout from the federal government, and because many statutes of limitation will continue to run during the shutdown. The resources and hotlines in the federal government which are normally available to all private-sector employees are restricted or unavailable during these times. We hope they will resume soon, but in the meantime we can help you prepare for when they do.

Austin employees who believe they have suffered illegal discrimination, harassment, or retaliation at work should contact my office, Austin Employment Lawyers, P.C. The attorneys at Austin Employment Lawyers, P.C., represent employees in the Austin area and across Texas in all types of employment law claims, including wrongful termination, pay disparities, harassment, failure to provide a reasonable accommodation, and retaliation.

For more information or to schedule a consultation, please visit our website or call us at (512) 271-5527.