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

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST: Federal staff members have till February 6 to choose whether to willingly leave their jobs. The U.S. Office of Personnel Management, OPM, informed workers on Tuesday that if they hand in their resignation by next Thursday – that’s less than a week from now – most will be permitted to take leave and be paid until the end of September. Michelle Bercovici is an employment attorney who represents federal employees as a large part of her practice, so I asked her for her analysis about what OPM’s delayed resignation program would in fact mean.MICHELLE BERCOVICI: I in fact do not consider it so much an offer. I think it’s a to resign with a vague guarantee that, potentially, you might be kept in administrative leave status for as much as eight months – but no guarantees.MARTIN: Some people have actually been utilizing the term buyout to explain what this is due to the fact that there seems to be the deal of administrative leave for up to eight months if you take this deal. So is it a buyout?BERCOVICI: I would never explain it as a buyout. I think that’s a very misleading term to utilize in this situation. When you consider a buyout, there’s typically some sort of written agreement or a concrete offer to offer an advantage in exchange for waiving particular rights. That is not the case here.MARTIN: If clients ask you for your guidance, what are you informing them?BERCOVICI: First thing we tell them is workout extreme caution. There are no guarantees included in this email. The only thing I can tell you for particular is that if you change your mind, the firm’s most likely not going to let you withdraw that resignation, and you are essentially providing up 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 may this be an appealing offer?BERCOVICI: Folks near retirement need to be the most mindful since leaving earlier than planned can have major repercussions, potentially, on their benefits.MARTIN: Let me simply play a clip from the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt. She informed reporters that this is an excellent deal for individuals who do not wish to go back to the workplace. Let me simply play it.(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)KAROLINE LEAVITT: This is an idea to federal employees that they have to return in – to work. And referall.us if they don’t, then they have the option to resign, and this administration is very generously providing to pay them for 8 months.MARTIN: You’re shaking your head no.BERCOVICI: It simply – in a method, it breaks my heart that federal employees are being jerked around like this. It sends a signal to me that this return-to-office order is in bad faith, that it’s designed to get folks who work truly hard to resign. I think it’s attempting to pull the wool over a great deal of people’s eyes due to the fact that there are no warranties. And these are individuals who enjoy their job. They love the objective of the firm. They strive. And today, they’re dealing with very tough choices, particularly 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 informed to report to D.C. or else we’re going to fire you, they might feel that they have no option than to take this option.MARTIN: Do you expect legal challenges simply to the deal itself? And if so, on what grounds?BERCOVICI: This offer, to be truthful, is so unprecedented that I think a lot of us are still attempting to figure out what to do with it. I’m unsure if the offer itself may be challengeable. I think the bigger question is the execution of these terms. I’m not aware of any authority that exists right now for OPM to buy agencies to give this variety of individuals administrative leave. So I think it is extremely much perhaps setting the phase for obstacles due to the fact that I feel OPM has actually vastly 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 joining us.BERCOVICI: Thank you so much for having me here.

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