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Civil Rights for Civil Servants
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State Department’s New Performance Playbook
The State Department appears to be testing a model other agencies may soon copy. In July 2025, it carried out roughly 1,350 layoffs, including about 246 Foreign Service officers on...
OPM’s New Performance and RIF Rules: Why Feds Should Pay Attention
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...
Court Voids USAGM RIF Over Vacancies Act Violation
A recent federal court ruling offers an important reminder that even major personnel actions must comply with the rule of law. In a decision involving the U.S. Agency for Global Me...
Proposed OPM Rule Could Replace Seniority in RIFs
Federal employees have long understood one principle about reductions in force (RIFs): years of service matter. Seniority has historically been a key factor protecting experienced ...
Forced Performance Ratings and RIF Risk
Many federal employees assume performance ratings only matter if they fall to the very bottom of the scale. In reality, the bigger risk in a forced distribution system often happen...
IRS Union Contract Termination: The Legal Fight
Federal employees at the IRS and the Bureau of the Fiscal Service recently received alarming news: Treasury announced that the agencies’ collective bargaining agreement with the Na...
RIFs May Restart After Feb. 13: What Feds Should Do Now
Federal employees received a temporary reprieve when Congress restricted agencies from using appropriated funds to initiate or carry out new reductions in force (RIFs). That restri...
OPM RIF Appeal Rule: MSPB Rights at Risk
Federal employees facing a Reduction-in-Force (RIF) already carry enough uncertainty. A new proposed rule from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) would fundamentally change h...
Congress Quietly Extended RIF Protections—Here’s What That Means
Federal employees are hearing a lot of noise about layoffs—and most of it misses a critical development. Even though the recent shutdown has ended, Congress quietly extended a key ...
Privacy Act Lawsuit Offers Hope After HHS RIF Errors
A federal judge has allowed a significant Privacy Act lawsuit to move forward, and for former HHS employees impacted by last year’s Reduction in Force (RIF), that decision matters....
HHS Rescinds NIOSH RIF Notices: What It Means for Feds
The Department of Health and Human Services has officially rescinded every Reduction in Force (RIF) notice issued to employees at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and...
Courts Force Disclosure of Federal RIF Plans
For many federal employees, last year’s wave of reductions in force (RIFs) and reorganizations felt abrupt and opaque. Decisions appeared to come from nowhere, with little explanat...
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