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

Federal Employee NDAs and OSC Rights

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Federal employees are used to signing forms. Many are routine. But when a nondisclosure agreement reaches into whistleblower rights, every word matters. OPM’s newly proposed govern...

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Probationary Firings and Mental Health Fallout

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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...

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IRS Details, Failed Training, and Discipline Risks

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The recent NOTUS reporting about the IRS raises a hard question for federal employees: what happens when workforce cuts create operational gaps, and the people left behind are blam...

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Schedule Policy/Career Is No Longer Theoretical

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For months, federal employees have been watching the return of Schedule F under a new name: Schedule Policy/Career. On June 3, 2026, the President signed an executive order impleme...

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Forest Service VERA and VSIP: What Feds Should Know

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The Forest Service has reportedly put VERA and VSIP on the table for some employees as the agency moves hundreds of jobs to Salt Lake City. For Forest Service employees, this may f...

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Federal Science RIFs and Employee Rights

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When a federal science agency loses experienced employees, the public often hears the issue framed as “savings.” But the deeper question is whether the country is losing the instit...

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DOGE Whistleblower Retaliation and Federal Rights

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Dan Berulis, an IT staffer at the National Labor Relations Board, reportedly raised serious concerns that DOGE had accessed agency systems and moved sensitive data out. The agency ...

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Military Promotions and Merit Principles

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For federal employees watching the military’s senior ranks, the recent reporting on blocked officer promotions deserves careful attention. According to the transcript’s account of ...

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State Department RIFs and Diplomat Rights

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NBC News, citing the American Foreign Service Association, reports that roughly 2,000 career diplomats have been laid off or pushed into retirement in the past year, not including ...

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New FEHB Family Verification Rules for Feds

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Federal employees who carry a spouse or child on their health insurance should pay close attention to a new OPM rule expanding family member eligibility verification under the Fede...

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Pentagon Civilian Cuts and Readiness Risks

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When the Department of Defense cuts civilian jobs, the impact is not limited to payroll. Civilian employees support medical readiness, logistics, acquisition, cybersecurity, instal...

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Federal NDAs and the Suitability Setup

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Federal employees are right to pay attention to OPM’s proposed governmentwide nondisclosure agreement. But the most important takeaway is this: the NDA is not currently in force, a...

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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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