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

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST: Federal workers have up until February 6 to decide 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 to take leave and be paid until completion of September. Michelle Bercovici is a work legal representative who represents federal workers as a big 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 so much an offer. I think it’s a request to resign with an unclear guarantee that, potentially, you might be kept in administrative leave status for as much as 8 months – however no guarantees.MARTIN: Some people have actually been utilizing the term buyout to explain what this is due to the fact that there appears to be the offer of administrative leave for up to eight months if you take this offer. So is it a buyout?BERCOVICI: I would definitely not explain it as a buyout. I think that’s a really deceptive term to utilize in this scenario. When you think of a buyout, there’s typically some sort of written contract or a concrete offer to supply an advantage in exchange for waiving certain rights. That is not the case here.MARTIN: If customers ask you for your advice, what are you informing them?BERCOVICI: job First thing we tell them is workout severe caution. There are no assurances consisted of in this email. The only thing I can inform you for certain is that if you change your mind, the firm’s most likely not going to let you withdraw that resignation, and job you are basically quiting control over a lot.MARTIN: Exists some classification of worker 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 major repercussions, possibly, on their benefits.MARTIN: Let me just play a clip from the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt. She informed reporters that this is an excellent deal for individuals who don’t want to go back to the workplace. Let me just 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, job then they have the option to resign, and this administration is really generously using to pay them for eight months.MARTIN: You’re shaking your head no.BERCOVICI: It simply – in a manner, it breaks my heart that federal workers are being jerked around like this. It sends a signal to me that this return-to-office order remains in bad faith, that it’s developed to get folks who work truly tough to resign. I believe it’s trying to pull the wool over a lot of people’s eyes because there are no assurances. And these are individuals who enjoy their job. They love the objective of the firm. They strive. And right now, they’re facing really tough choices, especially if they’re remote. I indicate, it’s very coercive.MARTIN: You say 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 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 deal, to be sincere, is so extraordinary that I believe a great deal of us are still trying to find out what to do with it. I’m uncertain if the deal itself may be challengeable. I think the bigger concern is the execution of these terms. I’m not aware of any authority that exists today for OPM to purchase agencies to offer this variety of individuals administrative leave. So I believe it is quite perhaps setting the phase for obstacles since I feel OPM has actually greatly surpassed their authority.MARTIN: That is Michelle Bercovici. She is a work attorney with the Alden Law Group here in Washington, D.C. Thank you a lot for signing up with us.BERCOVICI: Thank you a lot for having me here.

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