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

Pentagon Civilian Cuts and Readiness Risks

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When the Department of Defense cuts civilian jobs, the impact is not limited to payroll. Civilian employees support medical readiness, logistics, acquisition, cybersecurity, instal...

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Federal NDAs and the Suitability Setup

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Federal employees are right to pay attention to OPM’s proposed governmentwide nondisclosure agreement. But the most important takeaway is this: the NDA is not currently in force, a...

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Pentagon Civilian Cuts and Readiness Risks

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When the Department of Defense cuts civilian jobs, the impact is not limited to payroll. Civilian employees support medical readiness, logistics, acquisition, cybersecurity, instal...

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Supreme Court MSPB Ruling: What Feds Should Know

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Federal employees who face discipline, demotion, removal, or other covered personnel actions usually cannot bypass the civil service system and go straight to federal district cour...

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NSF Accommodation Revocation Risks for Federal Employees

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Federal employees with disabilities should not be forced to lose an accommodation before an agency decides whether it is still needed. Recent reporting from AFGE Local 3403, the un...

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Anonymous Posts and Federal Subpoenas

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Federal employees often assume that an anonymous online post creates a safe distance between personal speech and government scrutiny. The recent subpoenas reportedly issued by the ...

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When Yesterday’s Assignment Becomes Today’s Allegation

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Federal employees are being placed in an impossible position: work that was assigned, required, or encouraged under one administration may now be treated as suspicious under anothe...

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Why the IRS Settlement Is Raising Rule-of-Law Alarms

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Federal employees are trained to respect process even when the process is inconvenient. That is why the reported IRS settlement deserves careful attention—not as a partisan headlin...

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Federal Employee NDAs and Whistleblower Rights

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A proposed governmentwide nondisclosure agreement for federal employees is not just another onboarding form. According to the transcript, the concern is not limited to one clause o...

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Federal Employee NDA: Five Legal Risks to Watch

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Federal employees are right to read OPM’s proposed governmentwide nondisclosure agreement carefully. The draft does more than ask employees to protect sensitive information. It rai...

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NDA Concerns for Federal Employees

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Federal employees should pay close attention to OPM’s draft governmentwide nondisclosure agreement, especially because the form reportedly could apply to roughly two million federa...

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Why Federal Employees Should Still Trust the Legal Process

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For federal employees, the pace of workplace disruption since January 2025 can feel overwhelming. Reclassifications, removals, DOGE-related agency actions, and attacks on collectiv...

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More ways to learn

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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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Mindfulness

Work Peacefully

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

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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.

Meet Shaun & Lydia

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