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

Government Shutdown Looming October 1: Three Moves for Federal Employees to Make Now

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A government shutdown could begin as soon as October 1, 2026, and federal employees who wait until the fiscal year ends to prepare may find themselves scrambling. Congress has pass...

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Your Agency's NDA Cannot Erase Your Whistleblower Rights

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A nondisclosure agreement cannot be used to block a federal employee from reporting wrongdoing β€” that protection comes from statute, not from whatever a form says, and it holds reg...

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Judge Orders DOJ to Restore Telework for Two Disabled EOIR Attorneys

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A federal judge has ordered the Department of Justice to restore full-time telework accommodations for two attorney-advisors in DOJ's Executive Office for Immigration Review, findi...

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GAO Clears DOGE at NLRB β€” But the Agency Deleted the Access Logs First

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A new Government Accountability Office report on DOGE's activity at the National Labor Relations Board reads, at first glance, like an all-clear. But a footnote buried in that same...

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State Department Is Hiring for Jobs It Just Cut β€” Know Your RIF Rights

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A year after the State Department separated roughly 1,350 employees in a reduction in force (RIF), the department is recruiting again for many of the same roles β€” and laid-off empl...

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Arbitrator Orders Forest Service to Restore Telework for 20,000 Employees

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An arbitrator has ordered the U.S. Forest Service to restore telework and remote work agreements for close to 20,000 employees represented by the National Federation of Federal Emp...

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New OPM Rule Requires Family Eligibility Proof for FEHB Every Time

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A new Office of Personnel Management (OPM) rule now requires federal employees to prove a family member's eligibility every time that person is added to Federal Employees Health Be...

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OPM Wants to Cut the Survey Questions That Measure Federal Employee Morale

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OPM has proposed rewriting the one survey that measures how federal employees actually feel about their jobs and their leadership. The proposed rule would decentralize the Federal ...

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DOGE Is Dead. The Damage to the Federal Workforce Isn't.

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DOGE β€” the Department of Government Efficiency β€” officially shut down on July 4, but the damage to the federal workforce it leaves behind is only now coming into focus. When Congre...

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OPM's Proposed Rule: A 30-Day PIP Cap and Removal by Default

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A newly proposed rule from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) could reshape how federal performance cases work β€” capping performance improvement periods at 30 days and making...

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Federal Court Blocks FLRA From Stripping Career Staff of Union Election Authority

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For once, the news out of the Federal Labor Relations Authority is good for federal employees and their unions.

Background: More Than 40 Years of Career Oversight

Since 1983, car...

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NTEU Sues Treasury and HHS Over Thousands of Stalled Accommodation Requests

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Federal employees waiting on disability accommodation requests at the IRS, HHS, or CDC just got some backing. On Monday, the National Treasury Employees Union sued the Treasury Dep...

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