NLRB to Construe Each Shutdown Day as a Legal Holiday for Filing Purposes

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), following procedural rules it set up to be used in the event of a shutdown, is counting each day the board is closed because of the Congressional funding stalemate to be a legal holiday. Thus the deadline for filings and serving documents will be extended for each day of the government shutdown. These procedural rules have no effect on legal statutes of limitations, so any claims must still be filed within the legal time-frames established by the governing law. Thus the six-month statute of limitations pertaining to charges of unfair labor practices under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) will remain in force. The board has already postponed all hearings scheduled from Oct. 1 through Oct. 11. In the event of a continued shutdown, hearings scheduled on or after Oct. 14 will be "postponed indefinitely."