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

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST: Federal employees have until February 6 to choose whether to willingly 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 attorney who represents federal workers as a big part of her practice, so I asked her for her analysis about what OPM's postponed resignation program would actually mean.MICHELLE BERCOVICI: I actually do not consider it so much a deal. I believe it's a request to resign with a vague pledge that, possibly, you might be kept in administrative leave status for as much as eight months - however no guarantees.MARTIN: Some people have actually been utilizing the term buyout to describe what this is because there appears to be the deal of administrative leave for up to eight 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 an extremely misleading term to utilize in this situation. When you think of a buyout, there's generally some sort of written arrangement or a concrete deal to supply a benefit 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 tell them is exercise extreme caution. There are no guarantees included in this email. The only thing I can inform you for particular is that if you alter your mind, the firm's probably not going to let you withdraw that resignation, and you are basically providing up control over a lot.MARTIN: Is there 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 cautious since leaving earlier than intended can have severe repercussions, 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 a bargain for people who don't 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 have to return in - to work. And if they don't, employment then they have the option to resign, and this administration is very generously providing to pay them for eight months.MARTIN: You're shaking your head no.BERCOVICI: employment It simply - in such a way, 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 designed to get folks who work actually tough 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 individuals who love their job. They enjoy the objective of the agency. They strive. And right now, they're dealing with very tough choices, specifically if they're remote. I indicate, 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. or employment else we're going to fire you, they might feel that they have no choice than to take this option.MARTIN: Do you expect legal difficulties just to the offer itself? And if so, on what grounds?BERCOVICI: This offer, to be truthful, is so unmatched that I think a great deal of us are still trying to determine what to do with it. I'm unsure if the offer itself may be challengeable. I think the larger concern is the execution of these terms. I'm not knowledgeable about any authority that exists today for OPM to buy firms to provide this variety of people administrative leave. So I believe it is quite potentially setting the stage for difficulties due to the fact that I feel OPM has greatly surpassed their authority.MARTIN: That is Michelle Bercovici. She is an employment lawyer with the Alden Law Group here in Washington, D.C. Thank you a lot for joining us.BERCOVICI: Thank you so much for having me here.

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