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

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST: job Federal staff members have up until February 6 to decide whether to willingly leave their jobs. The U.S. Office of Personnel Management, OPM, job 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 permitted to take leave and be paid till the end of September. Michelle Bercovici is a work lawyer who represents federal workers as a large part of her practice, so I asked her for her analysis about what OPM’s postponed resignation program would in fact mean.MICHELLE BERCOVICI: I actually do not consider it so much a deal. I believe it’s a demand to resign with a vague promise that, potentially, you might be kept in administrative leave status for up to 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 up to 8 months if you take this deal. So is it a buyout?BERCOVICI: I would definitely not describe it as a buyout. I believe that’s an extremely deceptive term to use in this circumstance. When you think of a buyout, there’s typically some sort of written arrangement or a concrete offer to supply a benefit in exchange for waiving particular rights. That is not the case here.MARTIN: If clients ask you for your recommendations, what are you telling them?BERCOVICI: First thing we inform them is exercise extreme caution. There are no warranties included in this e-mail. The only thing I can tell you for certain is that if you alter your mind, the firm’s most likely not going to let you withdraw that resignation, and you are essentially quiting control over a lot.MARTIN: Is there some classification of staff member who you believe this might benefit? Maybe they’re close to retirement. Is someone like that might this be an attractive offer?BERCOVICI: Folks near retirement require to be the most careful since leaving earlier than intended can have severe consequences, possibly, on their benefits.MARTIN: Let me simply play a clip from the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt. She told press reporters that this is a great offer for individuals who don’t desire to go back to the workplace. Let me just play it.(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)KAROLINE LEAVITT: job This is a suggestion to federal employees that they need to return in – to work. And if they do not, then they have the option to resign, and this administration is really kindly using to pay them for job eight months.MARTIN: You’re shaking your head no.BERCOVICI: It just – in a way, 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 is in bad faith, that it’s designed to get folks who work actually difficult to resign. I believe it’s trying to pull the wool over a great deal of because there are no assurances. And these are people who like their job. They enjoy the mission of the firm. They strive. And right now, they’re dealing with very tough options, especially if they’re remote. I mean, it’s really coercive.MARTIN: You say it’s coercive. Because?BERCOVICI: Essentially, if you’re somebody who resides 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 difficulties simply to the offer itself? And if so, on what grounds?BERCOVICI: This deal, to be sincere, is so unmatched that I believe a great deal of us are still trying to find out what to do with it. I’m not exactly sure if the deal itself may be challengeable. I think the bigger concern is the execution of these terms. I’m not mindful of any authority that exists right now for OPM to purchase companies to give this variety of individuals administrative leave. So I think it is quite possibly setting the phase for challenges due to the fact that I feel OPM has vastly exceeded their authority.MARTIN: That is Michelle Bercovici. She is a work legal representative with the Alden Law Group here in Washington, D.C. Thank you a lot for joining us.BERCOVICI: Thank you a lot for having me here.

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