Employment Lawyer Discusses What Trump Offer To Federal Employees To Resign Would Do

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST: Federal employees have till February 6 to choose whether to willingly leave their jobs. The U.S. Office of Personnel Management, OPM, informed employees on Tuesday that if they hand in their resignation by next Thursday - that's less than a week from now - most will be enabled to depart and be paid up until the end of September. Michelle Bercovici is an employment legal representative who represents federal employees as a big part of her practice, so I asked her for her analysis about what OPM's deferred resignation program would really mean.MICHELLE BERCOVICI: I actually don't consider it a lot an offer. I think it's a demand to resign with a vague promise that, potentially, you could be kept in administrative leave status for as much as 8 months - but no guarantees.MARTIN: job Some individuals have actually been utilizing the term buyout to describe what this is since there seems to be the deal of administrative leave for as much as 8 months if you take this deal. So is it a buyout?BERCOVICI: I would definitely not describe it as a buyout. I believe that's a really misleading term to use in this scenario. When you think of a buyout, there's normally some sort of composed 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 recommendations, what are you informing them?BERCOVICI: First thing we inform them is exercise severe . There are no guarantees included in this email. The only thing I can tell you for certain is that if you change your mind, the firm's probably not going to let you withdraw that resignation, and you are essentially quiting control over a lot.MARTIN: Is there some category of employee who you think this might benefit? Maybe they're close to retirement. Is somebody like that may this be an appealing offer?BERCOVICI: Folks near retirement need to be the most cautious due to the fact that leaving earlier than meant can have severe effects, potentially, on their benefits.MARTIN: Let me just play a clip from the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt. She informed reporters that this is a bargain for people who do not wish to return to the office. 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 don't, then they have the alternative to resign, and this administration is very generously offering to pay them for 8 months.MARTIN: You're shaking your head no.BERCOVICI: It just - in a manner, it breaks my heart that federal employees are being jerked around like this. It sends out a signal to me that this return-to-office order remains in bad faith, that it's created to get folks who work truly tough to resign. I think it's trying to pull the wool over a great deal of people's eyes due to the fact that there are no guarantees. And these are individuals who love their job. They enjoy the objective of the agency. They strive. And today, they're facing really difficult choices, specifically if they're remote. I mean, it's really coercive.MARTIN: You state it's coercive. Because?BERCOVICI: Essentially, if you're someone who lives in Oregon and has been told to report to D.C. otherwise we're going to fire you, they might feel that they have no option than to take this option.MARTIN: Do you expect legal obstacles simply to the offer itself? And if so, on what grounds?BERCOVICI: This deal, to be sincere, is so unmatched that I believe a lot of us are still trying to determine what to do with it. I'm not sure if the offer itself might be challengeable. I think the larger question is the execution of these terms. I'm not familiar with any authority that exists today for OPM to purchase agencies to offer this number of people administrative leave. So I believe it is quite perhaps setting the stage for challenges due to the fact that I feel OPM has actually greatly surpassed their authority.MARTIN: That is Michelle Bercovici. She is an employment attorney with the Alden Law Group here in Washington, D.C. Thank you a lot for signing up with us.BERCOVICI: Thank you so much for having me here.


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