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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 decide whether to willingly leave their jobs. The U.S. Office of Personnel Management, OPM, informed workers 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 depart and be paid till completion of September. Michelle Bercovici is an employment attorney who represents federal employees as a big part of her practice, so I asked her for her analysis about what OPM’s delayed resignation program would in fact mean.MICHELLE BERCOVICI: I actually don’t consider it a lot a deal. I think it’s a demand to resign with a vague pledge that, possibly, you might be kept in administrative leave status for up to eight months – but no guarantees.MARTIN: Some individuals have been using the term buyout to explain what this is since there appears to be the offer of administrative leave for up to eight months if you take this offer. So is it a buyout?BERCOVICI: I would absolutely not explain it as a buyout. I believe that’s a really misleading term to use in this scenario. When you consider a buyout, there’s generally some sort of written arrangement or a concrete offer to supply a benefit in exchange for waiving specific rights. That is not the case here.MARTIN: If clients ask you for your suggestions, what are you telling them?BERCOVICI: First thing we inform them is exercise extreme caution. There are no warranties consisted of in this email. The only thing I can inform you for specific is that if you change your mind, the company’s probably not going to let you withdraw that resignation, and you are essentially offering up control over a lot.MARTIN: Exists 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 attractive offer?BERCOVICI: Folks near retirement need to be the most careful because leaving earlier than meant can have major repercussions, 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 individuals who don’t wish to go back to the workplace. Let me just play it.(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)KAROLINE LEAVITT: This is a tip to federal workers that they have to return in – to work. And if they don’t, then they have the alternative to resign, and this administration is really generously offering to pay them for eight 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 a signal to me that this return-to-office order is in bad faith, that it’s designed to get folks who work truly difficult to resign. I think it’s attempting to pull the wool over a lot of individuals’s eyes because there are no assurances. And these are individuals who like their job. They enjoy the objective of the firm. They strive. And today, they’re dealing with really tough options, specifically if they’re remote. I mean, it’s extremely 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. or else we’re going to fire you, referall.us they might feel that they have no choice than to take this option.MARTIN: Do you prepare for simply to the offer itself? And if so, on what grounds?BERCOVICI: This offer, to be honest, is so unmatched that I think a great deal of us are still attempting to figure out what to do with it. I’m not exactly sure if the deal itself might be challengeable. I think the bigger question is the execution of these terms. I’m not familiar with any authority that exists right now for OPM to buy firms to offer this number of people administrative leave. So I think it is quite possibly setting the stage for difficulties since I feel OPM has significantly exceeded 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 so much for signing up with us.BERCOVICI: Thank you so much for having me here.

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