Moneyactionworks

About Us

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 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 the end of September. Michelle Bercovici is a work attorney who represents federal staff members as a large part of her practice, so I asked her for her interpretation about what OPM’s delayed resignation program would really mean.MICHELLE BERCOVICI: I in fact do not consider it a lot an offer. I believe it’s a demand to resign with a vague guarantee that, possibly, you could be kept in administrative leave status for as much as 8 months – but no guarantees.MARTIN: Some people have been utilizing the term buyout to describe what this is because there seems to be the offer of administrative leave for adremcareers.com up to eight months if you take this offer. So is it a buyout?BERCOVICI: I would definitely not explain it as a buyout. I think that’s a very deceptive term to use in this circumstance. When you think about a buyout, there’s generally some sort of written agreement or a concrete deal to provide a benefit in exchange for waiving certain rights. That is not the case here.MARTIN: If clients ask you for your suggestions, what are you informing them?BERCOVICI: First thing we tell them is exercise extreme caution. There are no guarantees included in this email. The only thing I can inform you for certain is that if you change your mind, the company’s probably not going to let you withdraw that resignation, and you are basically quiting control over a lot.MARTIN: Exists some classification of worker who you think this might benefit? Maybe they’re close to retirement. Is somebody like that might this be an appealing offer?BERCOVICI: Folks near retirement need to be the most cautious due to the fact that leaving earlier than planned can have serious effects, possibly, on their benefits.MARTIN: Let me just play a clip from the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt. She informed reporters that this is a bargain for individuals who do not want 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 need to return in – to work. And if they do not, then they have the option to resign, and this administration is really generously providing to pay them for 8 months.MARTIN: You’re shaking your head no.BERCOVICI: It just – in a manner, 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 remains in bad faith, that it’s developed to get folks who work really tough to resign. I think it’s attempting to pull the wool over a great deal of people’s eyes because there are no assurances. And these are individuals who like their task. They love the mission of the firm. They work hard. And today, they’re dealing with extremely hard choices, especially if they’re remote. I imply, it’s very coercive.MARTIN: You state it’s coercive. Because?BERCOVICI: Essentially, if you’re someone who lives in Oregon and has been told to report to D.C. or else we’re going to fire you, they might feel that they have no choice than to take this option.MARTIN: Do you expect legal obstacles simply to the deal itself? And if so, on what grounds?BERCOVICI: This offer, to be truthful, is so extraordinary that I think a lot of us are still attempting to determine what to do with it. I’m not sure if the deal itself may be challengeable. I believe the larger question is the execution of these terms. I’m not aware of any authority that exists today for somalibidders.com OPM to buy firms to offer this variety of individuals administrative leave. So I believe it is quite perhaps setting the phase for challenges because I has actually 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 joining us.BERCOVICI: Thank you a lot for having me here.

Copyright © 2025 NPR. All rights scheduled. Visit our site regards to use and authorizations pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR specialist. This text might not remain in its final kind and may be upgraded or referall.us modified in the future. Accuracy and schedule may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programs is the audio record.