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

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST: Federal staff members have until February 6 to choose whether to willingly leave their jobs. The U.S. Office of Personnel Management, OPM, informed 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 till completion of September. Michelle Bercovici is an employment lawyer 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 in fact do not consider it a lot a deal. I think it’s a request to resign with an unclear guarantee that, possibly, you might be kept in administrative leave status for as much as 8 months – however no guarantees.MARTIN: employment Some individuals have been utilizing the term buyout to describe what this is because there seems to be the offer of administrative leave for as much as 8 months if you take this offer. So is it a buyout?BERCOVICI: I would definitely not explain it as a buyout. I believe that’s a really misleading term to utilize in this scenario. When you think of a buyout, there’s generally some sort of composed contract or a concrete deal to provide an advantage in exchange for waiving specific rights. That is not the case here.MARTIN: If customers ask you for your advice, what are you telling them?BERCOVICI: First thing we tell them is workout extreme caution. There are no guarantees included in this e-mail. The only thing I can inform 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: Is there some category of staff member who you believe this might benefit? Maybe they’re close to retirement. Is someone like that may this be an attractive offer?BERCOVICI: Folks near retirement need to be the most cautious because leaving earlier than meant can have severe consequences, potentially, 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 deal for people who don’t want to return to the office. Let me just play it.(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)KAROLINE LEAVITT: This is an idea to that they have to return in – to work. And if they don’t, then they have the choice to resign, and this administration is extremely generously using to pay them for 8 months.MARTIN: You’re shaking your head no.BERCOVICI: It simply – in 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 remains in bad faith, that it’s developed to get folks who work truly tough to resign. I think it’s attempting to pull the wool over a lot of people’s eyes due to the fact that there are no guarantees. And these are individuals who like their job. They love the mission of the company. They work hard. And today, they’re facing very difficult options, especially if they’re remote. I mean, it’s extremely coercive.MARTIN: employment You state it’s coercive. Because?BERCOVICI: Essentially, if you’re someone who lives 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 honest, is so extraordinary that I think a great deal of us are still trying to determine what to do with it. I’m not sure if the offer itself might be challengeable. I believe the larger concern is the execution of these terms. I’m not familiar with any authority that exists right now for OPM to buy firms to provide this number of people administrative leave. So I believe it is quite potentially setting the phase for difficulties since I feel OPM has 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 signing up with us.BERCOVICI: Thank you a lot for employment having me here.

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