The Federal Employee Survival Blog
Cut through the jargon and get the clarity you need to stay a step ahead of agency politics. Each article unpacks new policy shifts, court rulings, and workplace trends, then turns them into actionable tactics—so you can head off discipline, invoke EEO or whistleblower protections with confidence, and keep your documentation airtight. We also archive our most popular social-media explainer threads here, giving you the same insights followed by more than 150,000 people online even if you never scroll on those sites. Read, prepare, and keep your federal career firmly in your control.
When a supervisor says, “Commuting isn’t our problem,” it can feel like the door just slammed shut. But in federal disability law, the real question is more nuanced. A long or unpleasant commute, by i...
Many federal employees recognize the pattern: telework is suddenly “under review,” a vague “quick sync” appears on the calendar, and before the meeting even starts, the body reacts. Shoulders tighten....
If a telework accommodation was denied with phrases like “teamwork,” “collaboration,” or “we need you here face-to-face,” pause before accepting that answer as final. Those words may sound official. T...
When telework is questioned, the greatest risk often is not the policy memo. It is the record being created—quietly—while trying to get through the week.
In federal employment law, disputes are won a...
One of the most damaging myths in federal workplaces right now is this: that you must use specific legal language to request a telework accommodation. You do not.
You do not have to cite the Rehabili...
Federal employees are being told a familiar story: “Leadership says return-to-office, so telework accommodations are over.” That framing is legally risky—and often a sign the agency is skipping the st...
Federal employees are increasingly hearing a troubling message: “Telework accommodations are basically over.” That statement may reflect agency frustration or shifting workplace culture—but it is not ...
Federal employees who rely on telework should pause and read the fine print of OPM’s revised guidance. The most consequential change is not about where work happens—it is about how work will be judged...
Federal employees expect reasonable accommodation requests to be handled carefully, confidentially, and by trained professionals. Recent reports out of HHS—and specifically the CDC—suggest a process t...
IRS employees are waking up to a harsh reality: the agency has closed out pending hardship telework requests without individualized review, citing a top-down return-to-office mandate. For employees na...
For many federal employees, “Your accommodation is pending—come in or burn leave” has become an unwelcome refrain. With reporting that CDC has over 3,300 requests stuck in limbo as HHS centralizes its...
CDC and HHS employees have been forwarding the new telework FAQ with a kind of stunned disbelief—and for good reason. The document attempts to cap all telework at 80 hours per year and declares that m...
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