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

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST: have till February 6 to choose whether to voluntarily leave their jobs. The U.S. Office of Personnel Management, OPM, notified workers 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 an employment legal representative who represents federal employees as a large part of her practice, so I asked her for her interpretation about what OPM's deferred resignation program would in fact mean.MICHELLE BERCOVICI: I in fact don't consider it so much a deal. I believe it's a request to resign with an unclear pledge that, possibly, you might be kept in administrative leave status for as much as 8 months - however no guarantees.MARTIN: Some people have actually been using the term buyout to explain what this is due to the fact that there seems to be the offer of administrative leave for referall.us approximately 8 months if you take this offer. So is it a buyout?BERCOVICI: I would definitely not describe it as a buyout. I think that's a very misleading term to use in this situation. When you consider a buyout, there's usually some sort of composed agreement or a concrete offer to provide an advantage in exchange for waiving particular rights. That is not the case here.MARTIN: If clients ask you for your recommendations, what are you telling them?BERCOVICI: somalibidders.com First thing we tell them is workout severe caution. There are no assurances consisted of in this e-mail. The only thing I can inform you for specific is that if you change your mind, the agency's probably not going to let you withdraw that resignation, adremcareers.com and you are basically giving up control over a lot.MARTIN: Exists some classification of staff member who you think this might benefit? Maybe they're close to retirement. Is somebody like that may this be an attractive offer?BERCOVICI: Folks near retirement require to be the most careful since leaving earlier than intended can have major consequences, possibly, on their benefits.MARTIN: Let me simply play a clip from the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt. She told reporters that this is a bargain for individuals who don't wish to return to the office. Let me just play it.(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)KAROLINE LEAVITT: This is a suggestion to federal workers that they need to return in - to work. And if they don't, then they have the choice to resign, and this administration is extremely kindly offering to pay them for eight 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 created to get folks who work really tough to resign. I believe it's trying to pull the wool over a great deal of individuals's eyes since there are no guarantees. And these are individuals who like their job. They like the mission of the company. They work hard. And today, they're dealing with extremely hard options, especially if they're remote. I imply, it's very coercive.MARTIN: You state it's coercive. Because?BERCOVICI: Essentially, if you're somebody who resides 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 prepare for legal difficulties just to the deal itself? And if so, on what grounds?BERCOVICI: This deal, to be truthful, is so unprecedented that I think a great deal of us are still trying to determine what to do with it. I'm uncertain 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 companies to provide this variety of people administrative leave. So I believe it is quite perhaps setting the phase for challenges because I feel OPM has significantly exceeded their authority.MARTIN: That is Michelle Bercovici. She is a work legal representative with the Alden Law Group here in Washington, D.C. Thank you a lot for signing up with us.BERCOVICI: Thank you a lot for having me here.

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