Even if the federal government temporarily ceases operations due to a shutdown, HR obligations in many areas don’t pause.
A key point: a shutdown does not relieve an employer from its duty to stay compliant with employment-law requirements.
Key Considerations During a Shutdown
Timeliness still matters.
Even when government offices are closed, deadlines under existing regulations — like those for employee documentation and compliance — continue to run. HR teams cannot delay or ignore their obligations purely because of a shutdown.Document processing and verification can be disrupted.
Services that depend on federal systems (e.g. E-Verify, online checks) may become unavailable during a shutdown, which can slow down or temporarily halt verification steps that usually rely on government servers.Plan for contingencies and backlog.
Employers should expect interruptions, build in buffer time, and have processes in place to catch up as soon as government systems resume.Communicate with employees.
When verification systems are down, it’s good practice to inform new hires and internal staff about the delay and what the company will do to fulfill requirements once services resume.Maintain documentation and audit trail.
Keep careful records of what steps could or could not be completed during the shutdown, so that once government services return you can show what was delayed and why—not because of neglect but external factors.Catch up when services resume.
Once government systems (e.g. E-Verify) are back online, managers/HR must promptly process any verification backlogs and ensure that all missing or delayed checks are completed.Be ready to batch or bulk submit.
Some employers or service providers plan to submit accumulated verifications in batches once the system is functional again.
While E-Verify may be paused during the government shutdown, companies still must complete Form I-9 for new hires. The regulatory obligations remain in place: the I-9 must be timely completed, regardless of whether E-Verify is operational.
Once the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) restores E-Verify services, all pending employee verifications must be carried out as soon as possible.
In practice, providers like EMP Trust assist customers by performing batch submissions of verifications once DHS servers come back online.
