MICHEL MARTIN, HOST: Federal staff members have up until February 6 to choose whether to voluntarily leave their jobs. The U.S. Office of Personnel Management, OPM, notified employees on Tuesday that if they hand in their resignation by next Thursday - that's less than a week from now - most will be allowed to depart and be paid up until the end of September. Michelle Bercovici is a work legal representative who represents federal workers as a large part of her practice, so I asked her for her analysis about what OPM's delayed resignation program would actually mean.MICHELLE BERCOVICI: I in fact don't consider it so much an offer. I think it's a demand to resign with an unclear guarantee that, possibly, you might be kept in administrative leave status for approximately 8 months - but no guarantees.MARTIN: Some individuals have been using the term buyout to describe what this is due to the fact that there seems to be the deal of administrative leave for approximately eight months if you take this offer. So is it a buyout?BERCOVICI: I would never explain it as a buyout. I believe that's a really deceptive term to utilize in this scenario. When you believe of a buyout, there's usually some sort of written agreement or a concrete deal to supply an advantage in exchange for waiving certain rights. That is not the case here.MARTIN: If clients ask you for your advice, what are you informing them?BERCOVICI: First thing we inform them is exercise severe caution. There are no guarantees contained in this email. The only thing I can tell you for certain is that if you change your mind, the agency's probably not going to let you withdraw that resignation, and you are basically offering up control over a lot.MARTIN: Is there some category of employee who you believe this might benefit? Maybe they're close to retirement. Is somebody like that may this be an appealing offer?BERCOVICI: Folks near retirement require to be the most careful because leaving earlier than planned can have major effects, potentially, 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 people who do not wish to return to the workplace. Let me simply play it.(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)KAROLINE LEAVITT: This is a recommendation to federal employees that they have to return in - to work. And if they don't, then they have the option to resign, and this administration is really generously using to pay them for 8 months.MARTIN: You're shaking your head no.BERCOVICI: disgaeawiki.info It just - in a manner, trademarketclassifieds.com it breaks my heart that federal workers are being jerked around like this. It sends out a signal to me that this return-to-office order is in bad faith, that it's developed to get folks who work actually difficult to resign. I believe it's attempting to pull the wool over a lot of individuals's eyes because there are no assurances. And these are people who enjoy their job. They enjoy the of the firm. They strive. And today, they're dealing with very difficult options, specifically if they're remote. I mean, it's very coercive.MARTIN: You state it's coercive. Because?BERCOVICI: Essentially, if you're someone who resides 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 choice than to take this option.MARTIN: Do you prepare for legal difficulties just to the deal itself? And if so, on what grounds?BERCOVICI: This deal, to be honest, is so unprecedented that I think a lot of us are still attempting to determine what to do with it. I'm not sure if the offer itself may be challengeable. I think the bigger question is the execution of these terms. I'm not familiar with any authority that exists right now for OPM to buy agencies to provide this variety of people administrative leave. So I think it is really much possibly setting the stage for challenges because I feel OPM has vastly exceeded their authority.MARTIN: That is Michelle Bercovici. She is an employment lawyer 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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Employment Lawyer Discusses what Trump Offer to Federal Employees to Resign Would Do
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