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MICHEL MARTIN, HOST: Federal workers have until February 6 to choose whether to willingly leave their tasks. The U.S. Office of Personnel Management, OPM, informed workers on Tuesday that if they hand in their resignation by next Thursday - that's less than a week from now - most will be permitted to depart and be paid till the end of September. Michelle Bercovici is an employment attorney who represents federal staff members as a big part of her practice, so I asked her for her analysis about what OPM's postponed resignation program would actually mean.MICHELLE BERCOVICI: I actually do not consider it a lot an offer. I think it's a demand to resign with a vague pledge that, potentially, you could be kept in administrative leave status for up to eight months - however no guarantees.MARTIN: Some individuals have been utilizing the term buyout to explain what this is due to the fact that there seems to be the offer of administrative leave for as much as eight months if you take this offer. So is it a buyout?BERCOVICI: I would absolutely not describe it as a buyout. I think that's an extremely misleading term to utilize in this circumstance. When you consider a buyout, there's typically some sort of composed contract or a concrete offer to supply an advantage in exchange for waiving certain rights. That is not the case here.MARTIN: If clients ask you for your recommendations, what are you informing them?BERCOVICI: First thing we tell them is workout severe care. There are no warranties consisted of in this email. The only thing I can tell you for specific is that if you change your mind, the firm's probably not going to let you withdraw that resignation, and you are basically offering up control over a lot.MARTIN: Exists some classification of employee who you believe this might benefit? Maybe they're close to retirement. Is someone like that might this be an attractive offer?BERCOVICI: Folks near retirement require to be the most cautious because leaving earlier than meant can have major consequences, possibly, on their benefits.MARTIN: Let me simply play a clip from the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt. She informed press reporters that this is a bargain for individuals who don't desire to return to the workplace. Let me simply play it.(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)KAROLINE LEAVITT: This is a recommendation to federal workers that they have to return in - to work. And if they do not, then they have the option to resign, and this administration is very generously using to pay them for 8 months.MARTIN: You're shaking your head no.BERCOVICI: It simply - in a method, it breaks my heart that federal staff members are being jerked around like this. It sends out a signal to me that this return-to-office order remains in bad faith, employment that it's created to get folks who work truly hard to resign. I think it's trying to pull the wool over a lot of individuals's eyes because there are no assurances. And these are people who love their job. They love the objective of the company. They strive. And today, they're dealing with very difficult choices, particularly if they're remote. I mean, it's extremely coercive.MARTIN: You say it's coercive. Because?BERCOVICI: Essentially, if you're somebody who lives in Oregon and has been informed to report to D.C. or else we're going to fire you, they might feel that they have no option than to take this option.MARTIN: employment Do you expect legal difficulties just to the deal itself? And employment if so, on what grounds?BERCOVICI: This deal, to be sincere, is so extraordinary that I believe a lot of us are still attempting to determine what to do with it. I'm not sure if the deal itself may be challengeable. I think the bigger concern is the execution of these terms. I'm not familiar with any authority that exists right now for OPM to buy agencies to give this variety of individuals administrative leave. So I believe it is quite potentially the phase for obstacles since I feel OPM has actually significantly surpassed their authority.MARTIN: That is Michelle Bercovici. She is an employment legal representative with the Alden Law Group here in Washington, D.C. Thank you so much for joining us.BERCOVICI: Thank you a lot for having me here.

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