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
 

4 Signs a Federal PIP May Be Pretextual

By

For many federal employees, being placed on a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) can feel like the beginning of the end of a career. Agencies often describe PIPs as supportive tool...

Read Resource
 

VA Mental Health Staffing Crisis and Veteran Rights

By

For veterans already struggling to get mental health care, the most troubling part of this story is not a single bad experience. It is the pattern. According to the transcript, the...

Read Resource
 

EPA Grants Audit Warns of Federal Overwork Risks

By

A new EPA Office of Inspector General audit should get the attention of federal employees far beyond EPA. The report found that EPA lacks a grants workforce plan even as it manages...

Read Resource
 

DOE and NASA Move to End Federal Union Bargaining

By

Federal employees at the Department of Energy (DOE) and NASA just witnessed one of the most consequential labor developments in decades. DOE issued notices terminating collective b...

Read Resource
 

Telework Arbitration Wins for Federal Unions

By

Federal employees have been watching telework policies change rapidly across agencies. Yet a series of arbitration rulings is sending a clear message: when telework protections app...

Read Resource
 

Why Federal Employees Should Review Their Performance Plan

By

Federal employees often focus on the latest policy changes or agency announcements. Yet one of the most consequential documents affecting a federal career may already be sitting qu...

Read Resource
 

DHS Shutdown and TSA Pay: Your Back Pay Rights and Key Deadlines

By

During the ongoing partial Department of Homeland Security shutdown, tens of thousands of Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers are continuing to report to work wit...

Read Resource
 

SSA Data Breach Allegations and Whistleblower Risk

By

A recent report from The Washington Post describes a whistleblower complaint that should capture the attention of both federal employees and the public. According to the complaint ...

Read Resource
 

DoD “Voluntary” Border Details: What Civilian Employees Should Document

By

Defense civilian employees may recently have received a memo from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth encouraging volunteers for temporary details to the Department of Homeland Security...

Read Resource
 

Schedule Policy/Career Lawsuit: The Three Comments Problem

By

Federal employees following the controversy around Schedule Policy/Career already understand the stakes. The rule allows agencies to reclassify certain career positions into a new ...

Read Resource
 

OPM’s New Performance and RIF Rules: Why Feds Should Pay Attention

By

Federal employees often experience policy changes one rule at a time. But sometimes the legal significance becomes clear only when multiple proposals are viewed together. Three rec...

Read Resource
 

The Schedule Policy/Career Rule Just Cleared the Runway

By

As of March 9, the 30-day waiting period following the Office of Personnel Management’s final rule creating Schedule Policy/Career has expired. That technical milestone carries sig...

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