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Civil Rights for Civil Servants
Hear Shaun Southworth and Lydia Taylor explain federal employee rights, public service, workplace systems, and the people navigating them.
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Probationary Firings and Federal Appeal Rights
For probationary federal employees, the past year has carried an unmistakable message: early-career service can feel precarious even when the government says it wants to recruit ne...
Probationary Firings and Mental Health Fallout
The numbers are stark: in a recent survey discussed by The Guardian, 95% of fired probationary federal employees reported ongoing mental-health effects months after losing their jo...
Schedule Policy/Career Risks for Federal Employees
If you are a federal employee, the past few days are not just political theater. They implicate civil service protections, paycheck stability, and your ability to raise concerns wi...
OPM’s Proposal to Judge Probationary Appeals Itself
For many federal employees, the probationary period already feels precarious. Limited appeal rights. High discretion. Quiet pressure to “keep your head down.” A newly proposed rule...
OPM’s Proposed Rule Could Strip Probationary Employees of MSPB Rights
Federal employees often hear that probation is “temporary vulnerability.” What is now on the table would turn that vulnerability into something far more permanent—and far more dang...
Shutdowns, RIFs, and Reclassification: A 2026 Reality Check for Federal Employees
Walking back into a federal building at the start of 2026, many employees feel a familiar tightness in the chest. That reaction is not overblown. It reflects an accurate reading of...
MSPB Certifies Rare Class Appeals for HUD and OPM Probationary Firings
For many federal employees, being labeled “probationary” has long felt like being disposable. February 2025 seemed to confirm that fear when HUD and OPM terminated hundreds of prob...
Don’t Depend on the Algorithm for Critical Federal Employment News
Yesterday, a federal judge issued one of the most important rulings of the year for civil servants: OPM’s mass probationary firings were unlawful. On Instagram and YouTube, the new...
Judge Rules OPM’s Mass Probationary Firings Illegal
Earlier this year, thousands of probationary federal employees were swept out of service under a government-wide directive. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) had ordered age...
Judge Ruled OPM’s Mass Probationary Firings Were Not Lawful
Earlier this year, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) directed agencies to list every probationary employee, update that list daily, and fire nearly everyone not labeled “mis...
Probationary Federal Employees Challenge OSC in Court
Five former federal employees filed suit yesterday against the U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC), alleging the agency abandoned its duty to protect them from prohibited personne...
Probationary Feds: Why “Fully Successful” Ratings Won’t Always Save Your Job
A recent watchdog report revealed that the IRS terminated over 7,000 probationary employees—even though 99% of those with ratings were marked “Fully Successful” or higher. Performa...
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