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

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST: Federal employees have till February 6 to decide whether to voluntarily leave their jobs. The U.S. Office of Personnel Management, OPM, 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 allowed to depart and be paid up until completion 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 in fact mean.MICHELLE BERCOVICI: I really don’t consider it a lot an offer. I believe it’s a demand to resign with a vague guarantee that, potentially, you might be kept in administrative leave status for approximately 8 months – but no guarantees.MARTIN: Some people have been using the term buyout to describe what this is due to the fact that there seems to be the deal of administrative leave for as much as 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 utilize in this situation. When you think about a buyout, there’s normally some sort of composed contract or referall.us a concrete deal to provide a benefit in exchange for waiving specific rights. That is not the case here.MARTIN: If clients ask you for your advice, what are you telling them?BERCOVICI: First thing we inform them is workout severe care. There are no assurances contained in this e-mail. The only thing I can tell you for particular is that if you change 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 employee who you believe this might benefit? Maybe they’re close to retirement. Is somebody like that might this be an appealing offer?BERCOVICI: Folks near retirement require to be the most cautious because leaving earlier than meant can have serious consequences, possibly, on their benefits.MARTIN: Let me simply play a clip from the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt. She told reporters that this is a bargain for people who do not wish to return to the workplace. Let me simply play it.(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)KAROLINE LEAVITT: This is a tip to federal employees that they need to return in – to work. And if they do not, then they have the alternative to resign, and this administration is extremely kindly providing to pay them for 8 months.MARTIN: You’re shaking your head no.BERCOVICI: It simply – in a way, it breaks my heart that federal employees are being jerked around like this. It sends out a signal to me that this return-to-office order remains in bad faith, that it’s developed to get folks who work actually difficult to resign. I think it’s trying to pull the wool over a great deal of individuals’s eyes because there are no guarantees. And these are people who enjoy their job. They love the mission of the company. They work hard. And right now, they’re dealing with really tough choices, specifically if they’re remote. I indicate, it’s very coercive.MARTIN: You state it’s coercive. Because?BERCOVICI: Essentially, if you’re someone who resides in Oregon and has been told to report to D.C. otherwise we’re going to fire you, they might feel that they have no option than to take this option.MARTIN: Do you anticipate legal challenges simply to the offer itself? And if so, on what grounds?BERCOVICI: This deal, 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 uncertain if the offer itself may be challengeable. I believe the larger concern is the execution of these terms. I’m not conscious of any authority that exists today for OPM to order firms to offer this number of individuals administrative leave. So I think it is quite possibly setting the stage for challenges because I feel OPM has vastly surpassed their .MARTIN: That is Michelle Bercovici. She is an employment attorney 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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