The Federal Employee Survival Blog

Cut through the jargon and get the clarity you need to stay a step ahead of agency politics. Each article unpacks new policy shifts, court rulings, and workplace trends, then turns them into actionable tactics—so you can head off discipline, invoke EEO or whistleblower protections with confidence, and keep your documentation airtight. We also archive our most popular social-media explainer threads here, giving you the same insights followed by more than 150,000 people online even if you never scroll on those sites. Read, prepare, and keep your federal career firmly in your control.

 
OPM’s Draft Schedule F Rule and the Risk to Career Civil Service Rights civil service protections federal employment merit systems law mspb appeals schedule f Nov 19, 2025

Federal employees have heard whispers for months, but the recently leaked draft regulations go further than expected: nearly 50,000 career employees could lose core civil service protections based on ...

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Education Dismantling and What It Means for Federal Employees appropriations law civil rights enforcement education department federal employment mspb appeals Nov 19, 2025

Federal employees are watching a quiet but sweeping restructuring take place: core functions of the Department of Education are being carved out and reassigned to Interior, State, HHS, and Labor. Thes...

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Federal Unions After the Discharge Petition: What This Means for You collective bargaining federal employment federal unions mspb appeals workplace rights Nov 17, 2025

For the first time in years, a bipartisan majority of the House has signed a discharge petition forcing a vote on the Protect America’s Workforce Act—legislation aimed at undoing the sweeping executiv...

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RIF Notices This Fall: What the New OPM Rules Really Mean for You federal employment mindfulness at work mspb appeals opm guidance rif rules Nov 17, 2025

If you received a RIF notice this fall—or even heard rumors of one—the new guidance tied to the Continuing Appropriations Act changes your legal footing in very real ways. Under that law, agencies can...

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Returning After a 43-Day Shutdown: What Federal Employees Should Expect federal employment mindfulness at work mspb appeals shutdown guidance workplace stress Nov 14, 2025

When a shutdown ends, most people assume the crisis is over. But for GS-9 and above federal employees—especially those handling audits, contracts, IT systems, compliance, or mission-critical deadlines...

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Avoiding AWOL After a Shutdown Ends awol federal employment mindfulness at work mspb appeals shutdown guidance Nov 13, 2025

When a shutdown ends, most federal employees feel immediate relief—pay will resume, operations restart, and uncertainty loosens its grip. But there’s a lesser-known risk that surfaces the very first d...

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Shutdown Back Pay, RIF Rollbacks, and Your Next Steps federal employment mindfulness at work mspb appeals rif rollback shutdown back pay Nov 13, 2025

When a shutdown finally ends, relief often mixes with uncertainty. Many federal employees wake up wondering two things: When will the paycheck land? and Am I safe? This week’s reopening answers both q...

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Shutdown Deal 2025: What the Senate Plan Means for Federal Employees back pay federal employment mspb appeals rif freeze shutdown 2025 Nov 12, 2025

Federal employees have lived through 41 days of uncertainty—missed paychecks, frozen operations, and a flood of RIF notices that never should have been issued. With the Senate’s passage of a bipartisa...

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The #1 Legal Mistake Federal Employees Make in Discipline Cases discipline defense due process federal employment mindfulness at work mspb appeals Nov 07, 2025

After more than twenty thousand hours representing federal employees, one mistake stands out above all others: trying to face a disciplinary proposal alone. Agencies have trained attorneys, internal p...

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Federal Whistleblower Protections: Speaking Up Without Losing Your Career federal employment law integrity in government mspb appeals retaliation defense whistleblower protection Nov 04, 2025

Few things unsettle career federal employees more than seeing someone punished for doing the right thing. The recent case involving an FBI official who questioned a senior leader’s use of a taxpayer-f...

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Understanding Chapter 43 vs. Chapter 75: What Federal Employees Must Know chapter 43 chapter 75 dod employees federal discipline federal employment mspb appeals Oct 30, 2025

A growing number of agencies, especially the Department of Defense, are fast-tracking removals by handling “performance” issues under Chapter 75 instead of Chapter 43. Both chapters have always existe...

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DoD Fast-Track Removals: What the “Department of War” Memo Means for You chapter 75 civil service protections dod removals federal employment mspb appeals Oct 29, 2025

A newly leaked “Department of War” memo is changing how the Department of Defense handles removals for “unacceptable performance.” It directs supervisors and HR to act with “speed and conviction,” cut...

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