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

FEMA Workforce Cuts and Federal RIF Risks

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Recent sworn testimony from FEMA leadership raises a critical issue for federal employees: what happens when an agency sets workforce reduction targets before determining operation...

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HHS RIF Lawsuit Survives: What It Means for Feds

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A federal court in Rhode Island recently refused to dismiss the challenge to the March 27 HHS reorganization and reduction in force (RIF). That decision matters because it confirms...

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MSPB RIF Cases: What Federal Employees Should Expect

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For federal employees challenging a Reduction in Force (RIF), the instinct is often to focus on the outcome—the job loss. But early MSPB litigation is rarely about that alone. Judg...

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Managing Federal Job Anxiety Before It Spirals

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For many federal employees, anxiety doesn’t arrive during business hours—it shows up late at night. Shutdown chatter, Reduction in Force (RIF) rumors, and shifting telework policie...

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Schedule Policy/Career Risks for Federal Employees

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If you are a federal employee, the past few days are not just political theater. They implicate civil service protections, paycheck stability, and your ability to raise concerns wi...

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Judge Halts State Department RIFs: What Federal Employees Need to Know

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Hundreds of State Department employees woke up on December 5 believing it was their final day in federal service. Overnight, that story changed. A federal judge issued an emergency...

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OPM’s New RIF Proposal: How Performance Ratings Could Cost You Your Job

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Federal employees have long relied on a RIF system grounded in objective factors—tenure, veterans’ preference, and credible measures of service time. The new OPM proposal rewrites ...

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Senate Shutdown Deal: What It Means for Federal Employees

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After forty grueling days of uncertainty, the Senate has advanced a bipartisan agreement to reopen the government. The measure would fully fund VA, USDA, and the legislative branch...

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Shutdown RIF Update: Interior’s Numbers, TRO Expansion, and What Comes Next

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Federal employees, here’s where things stand in the AFGE/AFSCME case that’s temporarily blocking shutdown-related RIFs. As of this week, the Department of the Interior has disclose...

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“F It” Framework for Federal Employees Facing RIFs

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When a RIF notice lands, it hits more than your inbox—it hits your nervous system, your family rhythm, and your ability to think clearly. While legal challenges continue, you still...

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Shutdown Roundup: Pay, RIFs, and What Feds Must Do

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Federal employees, here’s your no-spin roundup from Friday through Monday—and the steps to protect your pay, benefits, and rights amid this shutdown.

What Changed Friday–Monday

F...

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Are Shutdown RIFs Legal? What the TRO Hearing Means for Federal Employees

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For the first time in modern memory, federal agencies have begun issuing reduction-in-force (RIF) notices while the government is shut down. More than 4,000 employees—across agenci...

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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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