The U.S. Department of Labor cut its request backlog by 25 percent in fiscal year 2021 according to quarterly data posted on DOL’s website. DOL’s backlog stood at 1287 requests at the end of FY 2021, a reduction of 427 requests from its backlog of 1714 requests in FY 2020. The Department’s backlog reduction comes on the heels of a 72 percent increase from FY 2019 to FY 2020, during which time DOL’s backlog skyrocketed from 991 requests to 1714 requests (presumably due to teh pandemic). Over the past 10 years, DOL’s lowest request backlog has been 561 at the end of FY 2014.

The Department’s quarterly data also indicates that requesters submitted 13,325 requests in FY 2021, a 15.8 percent decrease from FY 2020, when it received 15,820 requests. DOL processed 10.5 percent fewer requests in FY 2021, falling from 15,645 requests in FY 2020 to 14,007 requests in FY 2021.