Employment Lawyer Discusses what Trump Offer to Federal Employees to Resign Would Do

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST: Federal staff members have till February 6 to decide 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 allowed to take leave and be paid till the end of September. Michelle Bercovici is an employment lawyer who represents federal staff members as a large part of her practice, job so I asked her for her interpretation about what OPM’s postponed resignation program would in fact mean.MICHELLE BERCOVICI: I really do not consider it so much an offer. I believe it’s a demand to resign with an unclear guarantee that, potentially, you could be kept in administrative leave status for approximately 8 months – however no guarantees.MARTIN: Some people have actually been utilizing the term buyout to explain what this is because there appears to be the deal of administrative leave for job as much as eight months if you take this deal. So is it a buyout?BERCOVICI: job I would never explain it as a buyout. I think that’s an term to utilize in this scenario. When you think of a buyout, there’s usually some sort of written agreement or job a concrete offer to offer a benefit in exchange for waiving specific rights. That is not the case here.MARTIN: If clients ask you for your suggestions, job what are you telling them?BERCOVICI: First thing we tell them is workout extreme care. There are no guarantees contained in this e-mail. The only thing I can tell you for specific is that if you change your mind, the company’s most likely not going to let you withdraw that resignation, and you are essentially quiting control over a lot.MARTIN: Exists some category of worker who you think this might benefit? Maybe they’re close to retirement. Is someone like that may this be an attractive offer?BERCOVICI: Folks near retirement need to be the most careful since leaving earlier than intended can have serious effects, 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 an excellent offer for individuals who do not desire to return to the workplace. Let me just play it.(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)KAROLINE LEAVITT: This is an idea to federal employees that they need to return in – to work. And if they do not, then they have the choice to resign, and this administration is extremely kindly using to pay them for 8 months.MARTIN: You’re shaking your head no.BERCOVICI: It just – in such a way, 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 remains in bad faith, that it’s developed to get folks who work actually tough to resign. I believe 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 people who enjoy their job. They enjoy the mission of the firm. They work hard. And right now, they’re dealing with extremely hard options, specifically if they’re remote. I imply, it’s very coercive.MARTIN: You state it’s coercive. Because?BERCOVICI: Essentially, if you’re somebody who lives in Oregon and has been told 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: Do you expect legal difficulties just to the offer 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 trying to figure out what to do with it. I’m not sure if the deal itself may be challengeable. I believe the bigger question is the execution of these terms. I’m not knowledgeable about any authority that exists today for OPM to purchase firms to offer this variety of people administrative leave. So I believe it is quite perhaps setting the phase for challenges due to the fact that I feel OPM has actually vastly exceeded their authority.MARTIN: That is Michelle Bercovici. She is a work attorney 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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