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

Could Jackler v. DOJ Weaken Civil Service Rights?

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An agricultural commodity grader and a federal immigration judge may seem to have little in common. Yet a new congressional brief in Jackler v. Department of Justice argues that th...

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Veterans’ Preference Is Not a Federal Hiring Flaw

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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 ...

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Is USDA's Reorganization a RIF in Disguise? What a New Court Filing Alleges

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The U.S. Department of Agriculture says its reorganization "is not" a large-scale workforce reduction. A new court filing from federal employee unions argues USDA's own internal pl...

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OPM Wants to Stop Measuring Federal Employee Morale. A New Survey Shows Why That Matters.

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A new survey of federal employees who lost their jobs shows lasting damage to their finances and mental health, and it comes right as the Office of Personnel Management proposes cu...

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Federal Discipline Without the Douglas Factors: What a New OPM-MSPB Rule Would Change

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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...

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Douglas Factors Proposal and Federal Discipline

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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...

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Federal Employees: Communicate Before Crisis

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For federal employees, communication is no longer a soft skill. It can be the difference between preserving your record and creating an avoidable problem. A rushed email to a super...

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The Labor Leader Who Forced Federal Action

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A. Philip Randolph is not always the first name federal employees hear when they learn about civil rights. But his work helped change the relationship between Black workers, federa...

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Screwworm Outbreak Shows Risk of USDA Staffing Cuts

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The confirmed New World screwworm case in Zavala County, Texas, is more than an animal-health headline. For federal employees, it is a reminder that public service capacity is ofte...

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Black Women and Federal Workforce Losses

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Recent labor-market data should matter to every federal employee who is watching workforce change unfold in real time. The Economic Policy Institute reported that Black women exper...

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FEHB Medical Records and OPM Privacy Risks

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Federal employees are right to ask careful questions when the agency that oversees their health benefits seeks access to detailed medical claims data. The issue now surrounding the...

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The Federal Oath Is Not a Loyalty Pledge

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Federal employees swear an oath to support and defend the Constitution. That distinction matters. The civil service is designed to serve the public through lawful, competent, nonpa...

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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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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.

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