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Shaun Southworth leading a federal employment training session with members of the Southworth PC team
 

Federal Employee Morale and the Year of Disruption

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According to new reporting from Federal News Network, nearly one in three federal employees say their workplace was disrupted “to a very large extent” this year—almost three times ...

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Shutdown RIFs: What the Court’s Order Means for Federal Employees

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Roughly 4,000 layoff notices went out earlier in the government shutdown, but a recent federal court order has frozen most of them. The injunction—issued by a judge in San Francisc...

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Federal Disability Retirement: A Lifeline When Health Challenges Hit

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For many federal employees, health challenges can quietly transform once-manageable work into a daily struggle. Add the stress of shutdowns, furloughs, or RIF talk, and it’s no sur...

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Are Federal Employees Guaranteed Back Pay After the Shutdown?

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Federal employees are asking the right question: “Are we really getting back pay this time?” The short answer is yes. Under the Government Employee Fair Treatment Act of 2019 (GEFT...

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FBI Warns of Fake ICE Agents: Trust Crisis in Federal Law Enforcement

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The FBI has issued a rare nationwide warning: criminals are impersonating federal immigration officers—not just with fake badges, but through violent crimes including kidnappings, ...

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Shutdown Politics Shift After Democratic Wins

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Democrats’ sweep in several governor’s and legislative races this week did more than shift state maps—it changed the math in Washington. President Trump himself summed up the new r...

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Federal Employees and Voting Leave: What Today’s Rules Really Say

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For many federal employees, Election Day raises an unexpected question: can you take paid administrative leave to vote? The answer, unfortunately, depends on where you work. Some a...

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Mindfulness and Survival: Coping with the Federal Shutdown

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We are now more than a month into the government shutdown. Across the country, federal employees continue holding the nation together even as paychecks stop and fatigue deepens. At...

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The Real Horror: When Civil Rights Enforcement Goes Dark

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Federal employees face enough fear this Halloween with the ongoing shutdown. Yet there’s something even more unsettling—parts of our government’s civil-rights machinery have been q...

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Shutdown Day 29: Court Blocks RIFs, Talks Resume, Key Deadlines Loom

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The federal shutdown continues into its fourth week, but this past week brought a mix of progress, pressure, and one major legal win for federal employees. Here’s what matters most...

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Federal Judge Halts Shutdown RIFs Nationwide

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Good news for federal employees: a federal judge has issued a preliminary injunction halting all shutdown-related Reduction in Force (RIF) actions. This means agencies cannot issue...

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CDC Workforce Purge: Reform or Retaliation?

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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has lost roughly a third of its workforce in just eight months. According to recent reporting, the Department of Health and Human Ser...

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The Mindful Federal Employee is part of a broader public-education ecosystem from Shaun Southworth, Lydia Taylor, and Southworth PC. Use the resource that fits the question and the moment.

Podcast

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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About the people behind the work

Shaun Southworth & Lydia Taylor

Meet the federal employment attorneys behind this public-education work and the podcast Civil Rights for Civil Servants.

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