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

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST: Federal workers have up until February 6 to choose 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 to depart and be paid till completion of September. Michelle Bercovici is an employment lawyer who represents federal staff members as a big part of her practice, so I asked her for employment her interpretation about what OPM’s delayed resignation program would actually mean.MICHELLE BERCOVICI: I in fact do not consider it a lot an offer. I think it’s a demand to resign with a vague promise that, possibly, you could be kept in administrative leave status for as much as 8 months – but no guarantees.MARTIN: Some people have been using the term buyout to describe what this is because there seems to be the deal of administrative leave for up to 8 months if you take this offer. So is it a buyout?BERCOVICI: I would never describe it as a buyout. I think that’s an extremely deceptive term to use in this circumstance. When you believe of a buyout, there’s typically some sort of written contract or a concrete deal to provide a benefit in exchange for waiving particular rights. That is not the case here.MARTIN: If customers ask you for your recommendations, employment what are you telling them?BERCOVICI: First thing we inform them is exercise severe caution. There are no guarantees consisted of in this e-mail. The only thing I can inform you for certain is that if you change your mind, the agency’s most likely not going to let you withdraw that resignation, and you are essentially offering up control over a lot.MARTIN: Exists some classification of worker 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 severe effects, possibly, on their benefits.MARTIN: Let me simply play a clip from the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt. She informed reporters that this is a bargain for individuals who don’t desire to go back to the workplace. Let me just play it.(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)KAROLINE LEAVITT: This is an idea to federal employees that they have to return in – to work. And if they don’t, then they have the option to resign, and this administration is very kindly using to pay them for employment 8 months.MARTIN: You’re shaking your head no.BERCOVICI: It just – in a manner, 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 is in bad faith, that it’s designed to get folks who work really difficult to resign. I think it’s attempting to pull the wool over a lot of people’s eyes since there are no guarantees. And these are people who enjoy their job. They like the objective of the company. They work hard. And right now, they’re dealing with very hard options, especially if they’re remote. I suggest, it’s extremely 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 employment else 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 deal itself? And if so, on what grounds?BERCOVICI: This offer, employment to be sincere, is so unmatched that I think a lot of us are still attempting to determine what to do with it. I’m unsure if the deal itself might be challengeable. I think the larger concern is the execution of these terms. I’m not familiar with any authority that exists today for employment OPM to order companies to offer this number of individuals administrative leave. So I believe it is quite possibly setting the phase for challenges because I feel OPM has actually vastly exceeded their authority.MARTIN: 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 so much for having me here.

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