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

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST: Federal workers have up until February 6 to choose whether to willingly 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 until completion of September. Michelle Bercovici is a work lawyer who represents federal workers as a big part of her practice, so I asked her for adremcareers.com her analysis about what OPM’s delayed resignation program would really mean.MICHELLE BERCOVICI: I really don’t consider it so much a deal. I think it’s a request to resign with a vague guarantee that, possibly, you might be kept in administrative leave status for somalibidders.com as much as 8 months – but no guarantees.MARTIN: Some individuals have been using the term buyout to explain what this is due to the fact that there seems to be the deal of administrative leave for approximately 8 months if you take this deal. So is it a buyout?BERCOVICI: I would never explain it as a buyout. I believe that’s a very deceptive term to utilize in this scenario. When you consider a buyout, there’s generally some sort of composed arrangement or a concrete offer to offer an advantage in exchange for waiving certain rights. That is not the case here.MARTIN: If customers ask you for your suggestions, what are you telling them?BERCOVICI: First thing we inform them is workout severe care. There are no in this email. The only thing I can inform you for particular is that if you alter your mind, the firm’s most likely not going to let you withdraw that resignation, and you are essentially quiting control over a lot.MARTIN: Is there some classification of worker 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 since leaving earlier than intended can have serious consequences, potentially, on their benefits.MARTIN: Let me simply play a clip from the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt. She told press reporters that this is an excellent deal for people who do not wish to go back 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 do not, then they have the choice to resign, and this administration is very generously providing to pay them for eight months.MARTIN: You’re shaking your head no.BERCOVICI: It just – in a manner, 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, that it’s created to get folks who work actually difficult to resign. I think it’s trying to pull the wool over a lot of people’s eyes because there are no guarantees. And these are people who enjoy their task. They enjoy the objective of the agency. They strive. And right now, they’re facing very hard choices, specifically if they’re remote. I mean, it’s really coercive.MARTIN: You state it’s coercive. Because?BERCOVICI: Essentially, if you’re somebody who lives in Oregon and has been informed to report to D.C. or referall.us else we’re going to fire you, they might feel that they have no choice than to take this option.MARTIN: Do you anticipate legal difficulties just to the offer itself? And if so, on what grounds?BERCOVICI: This deal, to be sincere, is so extraordinary that I think a lot of us are still attempting to find out what to do with it. I’m not exactly sure if the deal itself may be challengeable. I believe the bigger concern is the execution of these terms. I’m not knowledgeable about any authority that exists today for OPM to purchase companies to provide this number of individuals administrative leave. So I think it is extremely much perhaps setting the stage for obstacles since I feel OPM has actually vastly surpassed 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 so much for having me here.

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