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 workers on Tuesday that if they hand employment in their resignation by next Thursday – that’s less than a week from now – most will be allowed to depart and be paid till completion of September. Michelle Bercovici is an employment attorney who represents federal workers as a large part of her practice, so I asked her for employment her analysis about what OPM’s delayed resignation program would really mean.MICHELLE BERCOVICI: I really do not consider it a lot an offer. I think it’s a request to resign with a vague guarantee that, potentially, you might be kept in administrative leave status for employment up to eight months – however no guarantees.MARTIN: Some individuals have been utilizing the term buyout to describe what this is due to the fact that there appears to be the deal of administrative leave for as much as eight months if you take this offer. So is it a buyout?BERCOVICI: I would never describe it as a buyout. I think that’s an extremely misleading term to utilize in this scenario. When you consider a buyout, there’s usually some sort of written agreement or a concrete deal to supply 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 informing them?BERCOVICI: First thing we inform them is workout severe caution. There are no warranties contained in this e-mail. The only thing I can inform you for particular is that if you alter your mind, employment the company’s probably not going to let you withdraw that resignation, and you are basically quiting control over a lot.MARTIN: Is there some classification of staff member who you think this might benefit? Maybe they’re close to retirement. Is someone like that might this be an attractive offer?BERCOVICI: Folks near retirement need to be the most cautious due to the fact that leaving earlier than intended can have severe consequences, potentially, on their benefits.MARTIN: Let me simply play a clip from the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt. She told reporters that this is an excellent offer for people who don’t desire to return to the office. Let me just play it.(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)KAROLINE LEAVITT: This is a tip to federal employees that they have to return in – to work. And if they do not, then they have the option to resign, and this administration is very generously offering to pay them for eight months.MARTIN: You’re shaking your head no.BERCOVICI: It just – in a manner, it breaks my heart that federal workers are being jerked around like this. It sends a signal to me that this order remains in bad faith, that it’s created to get folks who work really tough to resign. I think it’s attempting to pull the wool over a great deal of people’s eyes due to the fact that there are no guarantees. And these are individuals who love their job. They love the mission of the company. They strive. And right now, they’re dealing with extremely hard choices, especially if they’re remote. I mean, it’s really coercive.MARTIN: You state it’s coercive. Because?BERCOVICI: Essentially, employment 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 just to the deal itself? And employment if so, on what grounds?BERCOVICI: This offer, to be honest, is so unmatched that I believe a lot of us are still attempting to figure out what to do with it. I’m uncertain if the deal itself may be challengeable. I believe the larger question is the execution of these terms. I’m not knowledgeable about any authority that exists today for OPM to order agencies to give this number of people administrative leave. So I believe it is really much potentially setting the phase for employment obstacles due to the fact that I feel OPM has greatly surpassed their authority.MARTIN: That is Michelle Bercovici. She is an employment legal representative with the Alden Law Group here in Washington, D.C. Thank you a lot for joining us.BERCOVICI: Thank you so much for having me here.

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