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

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST: Federal workers have till February 6 to decide whether to voluntarily 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 enabled to depart and be paid till completion of September. Michelle Bercovici is an employment legal representative who represents federal employees 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 in fact do not consider it so much an offer. I think it's a demand to resign with a vague guarantee that, potentially, you could be kept in administrative leave status for as much as 8 months - but no guarantees.MARTIN: employment Some people have actually been using the term buyout to describe what this is due to the fact that there seems to be the deal of administrative leave for as much as 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 an extremely misleading term to use in this circumstance. When you consider a buyout, there's typically some sort of composed arrangement or a concrete offer to offer 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 informing them?BERCOVICI: First thing we inform them is exercise severe caution. There are no assurances included in this email. The only thing I can inform you for certain is that if you change your mind, the agency's most likely not going to let you withdraw that resignation, and you are essentially quiting control over a lot.MARTIN: Exists some classification of employee who you think this might benefit? Maybe they're close to retirement. Is somebody like that might this be an appealing offer?BERCOVICI: Folks near retirement need to be the most mindful since leaving earlier than intended can have severe repercussions, potentially, 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 good offer for individuals who do not desire to return to the workplace. Let me simply 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 don't, then they have the choice to resign, and this administration is extremely generously offering to pay them for 8 months.MARTIN: You're shaking your head no.BERCOVICI: It simply - 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 order remains in bad faith, that it's designed to get folks who work truly difficult to resign. I think it's attempting to pull the wool over a great deal of people's eyes because there are no warranties. And employment these are people who love their task. They like the objective of the agency. They strive. And right now, they're facing really hard options, especially if they're remote. I imply, it's extremely 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. otherwise we're going to fire you, they might feel that they have no option than to take this option.MARTIN: Do you anticipate legal difficulties simply to the deal itself? And if so, on what grounds?BERCOVICI: This deal, to be sincere, is so unprecedented that I believe a lot of us are still attempting to determine what to do with it. I'm not exactly sure if the offer itself might be challengeable. I think the larger question is the execution of these terms. I'm not conscious of any authority that exists right now for OPM to buy firms to provide this number of individuals administrative leave. So I believe it is quite perhaps setting the stage for obstacles since I feel OPM has actually 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 signing up with us.BERCOVICI: Thank you so much for having me here.

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