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

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST: Federal workers have until February 6 to decide whether to voluntarily 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 permitted to take leave and be paid up until the end of September. Michelle Bercovici is a work lawyer who represents federal workers as a large part of her practice, so I asked her for her interpretation about what OPM’s deferred resignation program would actually mean.MICHELLE BERCOVICI: I in fact do not consider it a lot a deal. I think it’s a demand to resign with an unclear promise that, possibly, you might be kept in administrative leave status for as much as 8 months – but no guarantees.MARTIN: Some individuals have actually been using the term buyout to explain what this is since there appears to be the offer of administrative leave for approximately eight months if you take this offer. So is it a buyout?BERCOVICI: I would definitely not it as a buyout. I believe that’s an extremely misleading term to utilize in this scenario. When you consider a buyout, there’s generally some sort of written contract or a concrete offer to supply an advantage in exchange for waiving specific rights. That is not the case here.MARTIN: If customers ask you for your suggestions, what are you telling them?BERCOVICI: First thing we inform them is exercise severe care. There are no guarantees contained in this email. The only thing I can tell you for certain is that if you alter your mind, referall.us the agency’s most likely not going to let you withdraw that resignation, and you are essentially providing up control over a lot.MARTIN: Is there some classification of staff member who you believe 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 mindful due to the fact that leaving earlier than intended can have severe consequences, potentially, on their benefits.MARTIN: Let me just play a clip from the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt. She told reporters that this is a bargain for individuals who do not wish to return to the office. Let me simply play it.(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)KAROLINE LEAVITT: This is a tip to federal workers that they need to return in – to work. And if they don’t, then they have the alternative 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 such a way, it breaks my heart that federal employees 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 really difficult to resign. I believe it’s attempting to pull the wool over a lot of people’s eyes since there are no assurances. And these are people who love their task. They love the mission of the company. They strive. And right now, they’re dealing with extremely hard options, particularly if they’re remote. I mean, it’s very coercive.MARTIN: You say it’s coercive. Because?BERCOVICI: Essentially, if you’re someone who lives 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 challenges just to the offer itself? And if so, on what grounds?BERCOVICI: This deal, to be honest, is so unprecedented that I believe 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 concern is the execution of these terms. I’m not mindful of any authority that exists today for OPM to order companies to provide this number of individuals administrative leave. So I think it is quite possibly setting the phase for difficulties due to the fact that I feel OPM has vastly surpassed their authority.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 a lot for having me here.

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