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 willingly leave their tasks. The U.S. Office of Personnel Management, OPM, notified 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 up until the end of September. Michelle Bercovici is a work legal representative who represents federal staff members as a large part of her practice, job so I asked her for her analysis about what OPM’s postponed resignation program would actually mean.MICHELLE BERCOVICI: I really do not consider it so much an offer. I think it’s a request to resign with a vague guarantee that, potentially, you could be kept in administrative leave status for as much as 8 months – however no guarantees.MARTIN: Some individuals have actually been utilizing the term buyout to explain what this is because there seems to be the offer of administrative leave for up to 8 months if you take this deal. So is it a buyout?BERCOVICI: I would absolutely not explain it as a buyout. I think that’s a really deceptive term to utilize in this circumstance. When you consider a buyout, there’s typically some sort of composed contract or a concrete offer to supply a benefit in exchange for waiving certain rights. That is not the case here.MARTIN: If customers ask you for your advice, what are you telling them?BERCOVICI: First thing we inform them is workout severe caution. There are no assurances included in this email. The only thing I can tell you for specific is that if you alter your mind, the agency’s most likely not going to let you withdraw that resignation, and you are basically quiting control over a lot.MARTIN: Exists some category of employee who you believe 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 because leaving earlier than meant can have serious consequences, potentially, 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 deal for people who do not want to return to the workplace. Let me simply 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 do not, then they have the alternative to resign, and job this administration is very generously providing to pay them for eight 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 return-to-office order is in bad faith, job that it’s developed to get folks who work truly tough to resign. I believe it’s trying to pull the wool over a great deal of individuals’s eyes since there are no assurances. And these are people who like their job. They like the mission of the company. They strive. And right now, they’re dealing with very hard choices, specifically if they’re remote. I suggest, it’s extremely 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 else 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 challenges just to the offer itself? And if so, on what grounds?BERCOVICI: This offer, to be truthful, is so extraordinary that I think a great deal of us are still trying to find out what to do with it. I’m not 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 right now for OPM to purchase firms to give this number of individuals administrative leave. So I think it is really much possibly setting the phase for obstacles due to the fact that I feel OPM has greatly surpassed their authority.MARTIN: That is Michelle Bercovici. She is an employment legal representative with the Alden Law Group here in Washington, D.C. Thank you so much for signing up with us.BERCOVICI: Thank you a lot for having me here.

Copyright © 2025 NPR. All rights booked. Visit our site terms of use and consents pages at www.npr.org for additional information.

NPR records are produced on a rush deadline by an NPR professional. This text might not be in its last form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and job schedule might differ. The of NPR’s programming is the audio record.