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

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST: Federal employees have up until February 6 to decide whether to willingly leave their tasks. 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 permitted to depart and be paid up until completion of September. Michelle Bercovici is an employment attorney who represents federal staff members as a big part of her practice, so I asked her for her analysis about what OPM’s delayed resignation program would really mean.MICHELLE BERCOVICI: I actually do not consider it a lot an offer. I think it’s a request to resign with a vague guarantee that, employment potentially, you could be kept in administrative leave status for approximately eight months – but no guarantees.MARTIN: Some individuals have actually been using the term buyout to explain what this is since there seems to be the offer of administrative leave for up to 8 months if you take this offer. So is it a buyout?BERCOVICI: I would definitely not describe it as a buyout. I believe that’s a very deceptive term to use in this scenario. When you consider a buyout, there’s typically some sort of composed arrangement 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 advice, what are you informing them?BERCOVICI: First thing we inform them is workout severe care. There are no guarantees included in this email. The only thing I can inform you for specific is that if you alter 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 employee who you think this might benefit? Maybe they’re close to retirement. Is somebody like that might this be an attractive offer?BERCOVICI: Folks near retirement require to be the most cautious since leaving earlier than planned can have severe effects, potentially, on their benefits.MARTIN: Let me simply play a clip from the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt. She informed press reporters that this is a great offer for individuals who don’t wish to return to the workplace. Let me simply 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 do not, then they have the alternative to resign, and this is very kindly using to pay them for eight months.MARTIN: You’re shaking your head no.BERCOVICI: It simply – in such 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 created to get folks who work actually difficult to resign. I believe 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 love their job. They enjoy the mission of the firm. They work hard. And today, they’re facing extremely difficult options, especially if they’re remote. I mean, it’s very coercive.MARTIN: You say it’s coercive. Because?BERCOVICI: Essentially, if you’re someone who resides in Oregon and has been informed to report to D.C. otherwise we’re going to fire you, they might feel that they have no choice 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, employment to be honest, is so unprecedented that I think a great deal of us are still trying to figure out what to do with it. I’m not sure if the deal itself might be challengeable. I believe the larger question is the execution of these terms. I’m not mindful of any authority that exists right now for OPM to order agencies to provide this variety of individuals administrative leave. So I think it is really much possibly setting the phase for challenges because I feel OPM has actually significantly exceeded their authority.MARTIN: employment That is Michelle Bercovici. She is a work attorney with the Alden Law Group here in Washington, D.C. Thank you a lot for signing up with us.BERCOVICI: Thank you a lot for having me here.

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