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

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST: Federal workers have up until February 6 to decide whether to voluntarily leave their tasks. The U.S. Office of Personnel Management, employment 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 take leave and employment be paid till the end of September. Michelle Bercovici is a work lawyer who represents federal staff members as a large part of her practice, so I asked her for her analysis about what OPM's postponed resignation program would in fact mean.MICHELLE BERCOVICI: I in fact do not consider it a lot a deal. I believe it's a request to resign with a vague guarantee that, potentially, employment you might be kept in administrative leave status for up to eight months - but no guarantees.MARTIN: Some individuals have actually been utilizing the term buyout to describe what this is due to the fact that there appears to be the offer of administrative leave for approximately eight months if you take this deal. So is it a buyout?BERCOVICI: I would absolutely not describe it as a buyout. I believe that's a very deceptive term to utilize in this circumstance. When you think of a buyout, there's normally some sort of written contract or a concrete offer to provide an advantage in exchange for waiving certain rights. That is not the case here.MARTIN: If customers ask you for your guidance, what are you telling them?BERCOVICI: First thing we inform them is exercise severe caution. There are no warranties contained in this e-mail. The only thing I can inform you for particular is that if you change your mind, the agency's probably not going to let you withdraw that resignation, and you are essentially providing up control over a lot.MARTIN: Exists some classification of worker who you think this might benefit? Maybe they're close to retirement. Is somebody like that might this be an ?BERCOVICI: Folks near retirement require to be the most mindful because leaving earlier than meant can have serious repercussions, 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 do not want to return to the office. Let me just play it.(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)KAROLINE LEAVITT: This is a recommendation to federal workers that they need to return in - to work. And if they do not, employment then they have the alternative to resign, and this administration is really kindly offering to pay them for eight months.MARTIN: You're shaking your head no.BERCOVICI: It just - in a method, it breaks my heart that federal workers are being jerked around like this. It sends a signal to me that this return-to-office order remains in bad faith, that it's developed to get folks who work actually hard to resign. I think it's attempting to pull the wool over a lot of people's eyes because there are no assurances. And these are people who love their job. They like the objective of the company. They work hard. And today, they're dealing with really tough options, particularly 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 informed to report to D.C. otherwise we're going to fire you, they might feel that they have no choice 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 extraordinary that I believe a lot of us are still attempting to find out what to do with it. I'm not sure if the deal itself may be challengeable. I think the larger concern is the execution of these terms. I'm not knowledgeable about any authority that exists right now for OPM to buy firms to offer this variety of individuals administrative leave. So I think it is very much possibly setting the stage for difficulties due to the fact that I feel OPM has actually greatly exceeded their authority.MARTIN: That is Michelle Bercovici. She is an employment 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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