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

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST: Federal staff members have until February 6 to decide whether to voluntarily leave their tasks. 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 enabled to take leave and be paid till the end of September. Michelle Bercovici is an employment lawyer who represents federal staff members as a large part of her practice, so I asked her for her interpretation about what OPM’s deferred 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 an unclear guarantee that, possibly, you could be kept in administrative leave status for approximately 8 months – but no guarantees.MARTIN: Some people have been using the term buyout to explain what this is because there seems to be the deal of administrative leave for approximately 8 months if you take this deal. So is it a buyout?BERCOVICI: I would never explain it as a buyout. I believe that’s a very misleading term to use in this scenario. When you think about a buyout, there’s usually some sort of composed arrangement or a concrete deal to supply an advantage in exchange for waiving particular rights. That is not the case here.MARTIN: If clients ask you for your suggestions, what are you telling them?BERCOVICI: First thing we tell them is exercise severe care. There are no warranties included in this email. The only thing I can tell you for job particular is that if you change your mind, the agency’s most likely not going to let you withdraw that resignation, and job 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 someone like that may this be an attractive offer?BERCOVICI: Folks near retirement require to be the most mindful due to the fact that leaving earlier than planned can have major effects, possibly, on their benefits.MARTIN: Let me just play a clip from the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt. She told reporters that this is a great offer for people who do not wish to go back to the office. Let me just play it.(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)KAROLINE LEAVITT: This is a recommendation to federal employees that they need to return in – to work. And if they don’t, job then they have the choice to resign, and this administration is very kindly using to pay them for eight months.MARTIN: You’re shaking your head no.BERCOVICI: It just – in a way, 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 created to get folks who work really difficult to resign. I believe it’s attempting to pull the wool over a great deal of people’s eyes due to the fact that there are no guarantees. And these are people who like their job. They like the mission of the agency. They strive. And right now, they’re dealing with really tough choices, especially if they’re remote. I indicate, it’s very coercive.MARTIN: You state it’s . 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 choice than to take this option.MARTIN: Do you expect legal challenges simply to the deal itself? And if so, on what grounds?BERCOVICI: This deal, to be honest, is so extraordinary that I think a lot of us are still attempting to figure out what to do with it. I’m not exactly sure if the deal itself might be challengeable. I believe the bigger concern is the execution of these terms. I’m not knowledgeable about any authority that exists today for OPM to buy firms to give this variety of individuals administrative leave. So I think it is quite potentially setting the phase for obstacles due to the fact that I feel OPM has actually greatly exceeded 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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