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.
Listen to the podcastNews, rights, tools & learning
Federal Employee Resource Center
Search timely updates, plain-English explainers, practical guides, podcasts, and mindful-action resources. Start with the question you are trying to answer.
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...
Federal Discipline Without the Douglas Factors: What a New OPM-MSPB Rule Would Change
A new joint proposal from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) would retire the Douglas factors, the 45-year-old framework that ha...
OPM's Proposed Rule: A 30-Day PIP Cap and Removal by Default
A newly proposed rule from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) could reshape how federal performance cases work — capping performance improvement periods at 30 days and making...
Douglas Factors Proposal and Federal Discipline
For more than forty years, federal employees have had a structured way to challenge discipline that feels excessive, inconsistent, or unsupported. That structure comes from the Dou...
OPM and MSPB Propose Retiring the Douglas Factors — What Federal Employees Stand to Lose
For 45 years, before a federal agency could fire, suspend, or demote an employee, it had to work through twelve factors set out in Douglas v. Veterans Administration, 5 M.S.P.R. 28...
Strong Federal Employee Defense Is Built Before the Hearing
When a federal employee receives a proposed removal, the case can feel deeply personal and immediately overwhelming. The agency file may include a proposed removal, decision letter...
Chapter 75 Rights for Federal Employees
A recent executive order reportedly removed civil service protections from an estimated 8,000 federal employees. That is serious, and affected employees should review the appendix ...
More ways to learn
Choose the format that helps you understand what is happening.
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.
Mindfulness
Work Peacefully
Use practical mindfulness tools to create space between workplace pressure and the decision you make next.
Explore mindfulness resourcesAbout 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 & LydiaThe Federal Employee Briefing
The important developments, without the all-day scroll.
Join 3,900+ federal employees getting sourced workforce news and practical next steps on weekdays. It is a free public-service resource from Southworth PC.