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

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST: Federal staff members have up until February 6 to choose whether to voluntarily 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 allowed to take leave and be paid until completion of September. Michelle Bercovici is an employment legal representative who represents federal staff members as a large part of her practice, so I asked her for her analysis about what OPM’s deferred resignation program would in fact mean.MICHELLE BERCOVICI: I in fact do not consider it so much a deal. I think it’s a request to resign with a vague guarantee that, possibly, you might be kept in administrative leave status for up to eight months – but no guarantees.MARTIN: Some people have actually been using the term buyout to describe what this is because there appears 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 never describe it as a buyout. I believe that’s a very deceptive term to utilize in this situation. When you think of a buyout, there’s normally some sort of composed agreement or a concrete offer to offer an advantage 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 tell them is workout extreme care. There are no guarantees contained in this email. The only thing I can tell you for certain is that if you alter your mind, the firm’s probably not going to let you withdraw that resignation, and employment you are essentially quiting over a lot.MARTIN: Is there some classification of staff member who you believe this might benefit? Maybe they’re close to retirement. Is somebody like that might this be an attractive offer?BERCOVICI: Folks near retirement require to be the most cautious since leaving earlier than planned can have severe effects, possibly, on their benefits.MARTIN: Let me just play a clip from the White House press secretary, employment Karoline Leavitt. She told press reporters that this is an excellent offer for individuals who do not want to go back to the workplace. Let me just play it.(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)KAROLINE LEAVITT: This is an idea to federal employees that they need to return in – to work. And if they don’t, then they have the option to resign, and employment this administration is extremely kindly using to pay them for eight months.MARTIN: You’re shaking your head no.BERCOVICI: It just – in a method, 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, employment that it’s designed to get folks who work actually hard to resign. I think it’s trying to pull the wool over a great deal of individuals’s eyes because there are no warranties. And these are individuals who like their task. They enjoy the mission of the company. They work hard. And today, they’re facing very hard options, specifically if they’re remote. I suggest, it’s extremely coercive.MARTIN: You say it’s coercive. Because?BERCOVICI: Essentially, if you’re somebody 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 difficulties just to the offer itself? And if so, employment on what grounds?BERCOVICI: employment This offer, to be truthful, is so unmatched that I believe a lot of us are still attempting to find out what to do with it. I’m unsure if the deal itself might be challengeable. I believe the larger concern is the execution of these terms. I’m not knowledgeable about any authority that exists right now for OPM to purchase companies to give this number of people administrative leave. So I think it is very much possibly setting the stage for obstacles since I feel OPM has greatly exceeded their authority.MARTIN: That is Michelle Bercovici. She is an employment attorney with the Alden Law Group here in Washington, D.C. Thank you so much for joining us.BERCOVICI: Thank you a lot for having me here.

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