How We've Saved 1,000 Trees (and Counting!)

As we commemorate Earth Month 2024, the Department of Labor is proud to announce a major milestone: we have eliminated approximately 10 million pieces of paper through our eFile/eServe System, or EFS. This is just one of many IT systems we have modernized at the department that improves efficiency and user experience – and reduces our reliance on paper waste.

How are we reducing our carbon footprint?

EFS is an integrated gateway for electronic filing, serving legal case documents and managing electronic case records within the department’s internal court system. It primarily serves the Office of Administrative Law Judges and the department’s three adjudicatory boards: the Administrative Review Board, Benefits Review Board and Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board, collectively known as the boards. It also is the system used for claims appeals by the Office of Workers' Compensation Programs.

EFS launched in December 2020. Since then, this digitized system has processed more than 1 million legal case documents, at an average of 10 pages per document. Essentially, we’ve saved the equivalent of 1,000 trees!

Benefits of EFS

The Office of the Chief Information Officer developed two online portals for EFS to manage legal cases before the Department of Labor related to workers’ claims for benefits, whistleblower protections, contract law or labor-related administrative disputes:

1. A public portal for citizens and attorneys to electronically submit case filings and receive electronic servings from OALJ and the boards
2. A private portal for internal staff to manage case workflows and data exchange between the department’s legal divisions and the case parties and attorneys

With EFS, there is no need for case participants to mail their paper case files to the Department of Labor, as hearings at the OALJ and appeals to the boards can be initiated electronically, filings can be submitted electronically, and they are available to all registered parties, eliminating the delay associated with paper filing. EFS also reduces costs related to physical document storage, printing, distribution, filing and archiving.

This all results in real-time value for our customers, stakeholders and the environment. It’s part of our commitment to modernize technology and experience its benefits; in this case, one tree at a time.

Robin Crisp is OCIO’s division chief for judicial systems at the U.S. Department of Labor. Follow OCIO on LinkedIn. Are you interested in joining the OCIO Team? View available positions and apply today!