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

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST: Federal staff members have till February 6 to decide whether to voluntarily leave their jobs. The U.S. Office of Personnel Management, OPM, notified workers on Tuesday that if they hand in their resignation by next Thursday – that’s less than a week from now – most will be enabled to take leave and be paid till the end of September. Michelle Bercovici is an employment lawyer who represents federal workers as a large part of her practice, so I asked her for her interpretation about what OPM’s postponed resignation program would in fact mean.MICHELLE BERCOVICI: I really don’t consider it a lot a deal. I think it’s a request to resign with a vague guarantee that, possibly, you could be kept in administrative leave status for as much as eight months – however no guarantees.MARTIN: Some people have been using the term buyout to explain what this is since 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 never explain it as a buyout. I believe that’s an extremely deceptive term to utilize in this scenario. When you think of a buyout, there’s typically some sort of written contract or a concrete deal to supply an advantage in exchange for waiving specific rights. That is not the case here.MARTIN: If customers ask you for your advice, what are you telling them?BERCOVICI: First thing we tell them is workout extreme caution. There are no assurances contained in this email. The only thing I can tell you for particular is that if you change your mind, referall.us the company’s most likely not going to let you withdraw that resignation, and you are essentially giving up control over a lot.MARTIN: Is there some category of employee who you think this might benefit? Maybe they’re close to retirement. Is someone like that might this be an appealing offer?BERCOVICI: Folks near retirement need 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 just play a clip from the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt. She press reporters that this is a great offer for people who do not wish to return to the office. 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 do not, then they have the choice to resign, and this administration is extremely kindly providing to pay them for eight months.MARTIN: You’re shaking your head no.BERCOVICI: It just – in a way, 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 is in bad faith, that it’s developed to get folks who work really hard to resign. I believe it’s attempting to pull the wool over a great deal of people’s eyes since there are no guarantees. And these are individuals who love their task. They love the mission of the company. They strive. And right now, they’re dealing with extremely tough options, especially if they’re remote. I mean, it’s really 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 expect legal difficulties simply to the deal itself? And if so, on what grounds?BERCOVICI: This offer, to be truthful, is so unmatched that I think a great deal of us are still trying to determine what to do with it. I’m not sure if the offer itself may be challengeable. I think the bigger question is the execution of these terms. I’m not aware of any authority that exists right now for OPM to buy agencies to give this variety of individuals administrative leave. So I think it is extremely much potentially setting the stage for obstacles due to the fact that I feel OPM has actually 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 so much for signing up with us.BERCOVICI: Thank you so much for having me here.

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