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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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Veterans’ Preference Is Not a Federal Hiring Flaw
A FedRAMP hiring controversy has exposed a familiar problem in federal workforce debates: blaming the legal protection instead of examining how the hiring process was designed and ...
Same Therapy, Opposite Rules: A Federal Court Lesson on Discrimination Evidence
A federal judge has ordered the government to explain an apparent contradiction in its own policies—and buried inside that dispute is a practical lesson about how discrimination is...
“Probationers Have No Rights” Is a Myth: Three Doors That Stay Open
If you are a probationary federal employee, you have probably heard some version of this: “You’re on probation. They can fire you for anything. There’s nothing you can do.” That be...
Is One Business Day a “Reasonable Time to Answer”? Inside the Proposed OPM–MSPB Rule
A proposed federal rule could give you as little as one business day to answer a proposed suspension—and if you are a federal employee, that is worth understanding now, while it is...
TikTok Is Legal on Government Phones Again. Here's Why You Should Still Keep It Off Yours.
The government just told federal employees they can download TikTok on a work phone again — and a federal employment attorney's advice is still to keep your thumb off that button. ...
The House Passed a Stopgap to December 4. Here's Your Real Shutdown Timeline.
A federal government shutdown remains a real possibility this fall, even though the House just voted to fund the government. On Tuesday, the House passed a stopgap continuing resol...
What Is a "Mixed Case"? The Federal Employment Term That Controls Your Deadline
If you're a federal employee facing a removal, demotion, or long suspension, and you believe discrimination played a role, the label "mixed case" isn't just legal jargon — it deter...
Return-to-Office Orders Are (Mostly) Legal — But Disability Accommodations Are a Different Story
A recent Federal News Network survey found that most federal employees say returning to the office has made them less productive — but for most workers, a return-to-office (RTO) or...
The MSPB Deleted "Independent" From Its Website. Here's What Actually Changed for Your Case.
This week, the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) quietly deleted the word "independent" from its website, its LinkedIn page, and even a job posting — and the change is raising ...
OPM Cut a Third of Its Own Workforce — Here's What That Means for Your Benefits
The agency that runs your retirement, your health insurance, and your federal HR records has cut its own staff by roughly a third since the end of 2024 — and a new government watch...
Why Your FERS Pension Depends on Social Security's Finances
If you're a federal employee under the Federal Employees Retirement System, Social Security isn't a side benefit sitting next to your pension — it's one of three legs your entire r...
IRS Ordered to Restore Telework After Walking Out of Its Own Arbitration
Federal employees at the IRS just won a major telework fight — and the agency didn't even show up to defend itself. An independent arbitrator ruled that the IRS violated its collec...
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