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 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 permitted to depart and be paid until the end of September. Michelle Bercovici is an employment attorney who represents federal workers as a big part of her practice, so I asked her for her analysis about what OPM’s deferred resignation program would really mean.MICHELLE BERCOVICI: I actually don’t consider it so much an offer. I think it’s a request to resign with a vague pledge that, potentially, you might be kept in administrative leave status for up to eight months – but no guarantees.MARTIN: Some individuals have actually been using the term buyout to describe what this is because there seems to be the offer of administrative leave for as much as eight months if you take this offer. So is it a buyout?BERCOVICI: I would never explain it as a buyout. I think that’s a very misleading term to utilize in this situation. When you think about a buyout, there’s usually some sort of written 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 somalibidders.com your guidance, what are you informing them?BERCOVICI: First thing we tell them is exercise extreme care. There are no warranties contained in this email. The only thing I can inform you for certain is that if you change your mind, the agency’s most likely not going to let you withdraw that resignation, and you are basically offering up control over a lot.MARTIN: Is there some category of staff member who you think this might benefit? Maybe they’re close to retirement. Is someone like that may this be an appealing offer?BERCOVICI: Folks near retirement require to be the most careful due to the fact that leaving earlier than meant can have major repercussions, potentially, on their benefits.MARTIN: Let me simply play a clip from the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt. She informed reporters that this is a good deal for people who do not desire to return to the workplace. Let me simply play it.(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)KAROLINE LEAVITT: This is a recommendation to that they have to return in – to work. And if they do not, then they have the option to resign, and this administration is really generously using to pay them for 8 months.MARTIN: You’re shaking your head no.BERCOVICI: It just – in a manner, it breaks my heart that federal staff members 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 designed to get folks who work actually hard to resign. I think it’s trying to pull the wool over a great deal of people’s eyes since there are no warranties. And these are people who love their job. They enjoy the objective of the firm. They work hard. And today, referall.us they’re facing extremely difficult choices, especially if they’re remote. I indicate, it’s extremely coercive.MARTIN: You state it’s coercive. Because?BERCOVICI: Essentially, if you’re somebody 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 prepare for legal obstacles just to the deal itself? And if so, on what grounds?BERCOVICI: This offer, to be honest, is so extraordinary 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 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 give this number of people administrative leave. So I believe it is really much potentially setting the stage for challenges since I feel OPM has significantly 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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