Skip to content

News, rights, tools & learning

Federal Employee Resource Center

Search timely updates, plain-English explainers, practical guides, podcasts, and mindful-action resources. Start with the question you are trying to answer.

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

Interior Department RIFs: What Federal Employees Need to Know

By

Employees at the Department of the Interior (DOI) are facing a serious development: agency leadership has begun finalizing reduction-in-force (RIF) lists, with potential impacts ac...

Read Resource
 

Court Rules Trump’s IG Firings Were Unlawful

By

A federal judge recently found that former President Trump unlawfully removed 17 Inspectors General (IGs). By law, the President must give Congress 30 days’ notice and provide a sp...

Read Resource
 

OMB Memo Links Shutdowns to RIF Threats

By

Shutdowns are never easy for federal employees. Normally, the drill is painful but familiar: furloughs stop your paycheck, then Congress eventually funds the government, and you re...

Read Resource
 

Reassignment and Disability Retirement for Federal Employees

By

For federal employees navigating the reasonable accommodation process, one question looms large: what if your agency says it can’t accommodate you? The law provides an answer. Befo...

Read Resource
 

OPM Pauses Relocation Push: What Federal Employees Should Do Now

By

In February, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) ordered many remote employees living more than 50 miles from an OPM worksite to accept a management-directed reassignment (MDR...

Read Resource
 

Deferred Resignation Reversals: What Federal Employees Should Know

By

This year’s “Fork in the Road” Deferred Resignation Program (DRP) was framed as a way to streamline the federal workforce. Many employees at the Department of Labor and other agenc...

Read Resource
 

Why Federal Disability Accommodation Cases Are So Complex

By

If you are a federal employee navigating disability accommodations, you already know the law can feel like a maze. Agencies have trained coordinators, HR specialists, and sometimes...

Read Resource
 

When to Hire a Lawyer for Federal Disability Accommodations

By

For federal employees navigating disability accommodations, the first question is often: “Do I need a lawyer for this?” The truth is, not always. If your request is straightforward...

Read Resource
 

Trump-Era Layoffs and the Future of the Federal Workforce

By

This week, Politico confirmed what many federal employees have been experiencing firsthand: sweeping staff cuts across the government. Nearly 200,000 federal workers are gone in 20...

Read Resource
 

Judge Rules OPM’s Mass Probationary Firings Illegal

By

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...

Read Resource
 

Due Process Prevails in Lisa Cook Case

By

Last night, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals made headlines by blocking the administration’s attempt to remove Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook. For federal employees, this case...

Read Resource
 

Federal Employees, Social Media, and Free Speech

By

In the wake of Charlie Kirk’s death, agencies have begun issuing warnings about employee social media use. Some federal workers have already been placed on leave pending review of ...

Read Resource

More ways to learn

Choose the format that helps you understand what is happening.

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.

Listen to the podcast

Mindfulness

Work Peacefully

Use practical mindfulness tools to create space between workplace pressure and the decision you make next.

Explore mindfulness resources

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.

Meet Shaun & Lydia

The Federal Employee Briefing

The important developments, without the all-day scroll.

Join 3,900+ federal employees getting sourced workforce news and practical next steps on weekdays. It is a free public-service resource from Southworth PC.

Get the Free Briefing