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 tasks. 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 take leave and be paid till completion of September. Michelle Bercovici is an employment attorney 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 really don’t consider it a lot an offer. I believe it’s a demand to resign with a vague pledge that, potentially, you might be kept in administrative leave status for as much as 8 months – but no guarantees.MARTIN: Some people have been using the term buyout to describe what this is due to the fact that there appears to be the deal of administrative leave for approximately eight months if you take this offer. So is it a buyout?BERCOVICI: I would never explain it as a buyout. I believe that’s a really misleading term to use in this situation. When you think of a buyout, there’s normally some sort of composed contract or a concrete deal to supply a benefit in exchange for waiving particular rights. That is not the case here.MARTIN: If clients ask you for your suggestions, what are you informing them?BERCOVICI: First thing we tell them is exercise extreme care. There are no assurances included in this e-mail. The only thing I can tell you for specific is that if you change your mind, the company’s probably not going to let you withdraw that resignation, employment and you are essentially quiting control over a lot.MARTIN: Is there some category of staff member who you believe this might benefit? Maybe they’re close to retirement. Is somebody like that might this be an attractive offer?BERCOVICI: Folks near retirement require to be the most cautious because leaving earlier than intended can have severe consequences, possibly, on their benefits.MARTIN: Let me just play a clip from the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt. She informed press reporters that this is an excellent offer for individuals who do not want to go back to the workplace. Let me simply play it.(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)KAROLINE LEAVITT: This is a recommendation to federal workers that they have to return in – to work. And if they don’t, then they have the alternative to resign, and this administration is really generously providing 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 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 developed to get folks who work truly hard to resign. I think it’s to pull the wool over a lot of people’s eyes due to the fact that there are no assurances. And these are people who love their job. They like the objective of the firm. They work hard. And right now, they’re facing very hard choices, particularly if they’re remote. I indicate, it’s really coercive.MARTIN: You state it’s coercive. Because?BERCOVICI: employment 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 choice than to take this option.MARTIN: Do you prepare for legal obstacles simply to the deal itself? And if so, employment on what grounds?BERCOVICI: This deal, to be sincere, is so extraordinary that I think a lot of us are still trying to find out what to do with it. I’m not sure if the offer itself may be challengeable. I believe the larger question is the execution of these terms. I’m not knowledgeable about any authority that exists today for OPM to order companies to provide this number of people administrative leave. So I believe it is really much possibly setting the stage for difficulties due to the fact that I feel OPM has actually vastly surpassed their authority.MARTIN: That is Michelle Bercovici. She is an employment attorney with the Alden Law Group here in Washington, employment D.C. Thank you so much for joining us.BERCOVICI: Thank you a lot for having me here.

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