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

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST: Federal workers have till February 6 to choose 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 permitted to depart and be paid up until the end of September. Michelle Bercovici is an employment legal representative who represents federal workers as a big part of her practice, so I asked her for her interpretation about what OPM’s postponed resignation program would actually mean.MICHELLE BERCOVICI: I in fact don’t consider it a lot an offer. I believe it’s a request to resign with an unclear guarantee that, possibly, employment you might be kept in administrative leave status for as much as 8 months – however no guarantees.MARTIN: Some people have actually been using the term buyout to explain what this is since there appears to be the deal of administrative leave for approximately eight months if you take this deal. 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 situation. When you think about a buyout, employment there’s usually some sort of composed contract or a concrete deal to supply a benefit in exchange for waiving particular rights. That is not the case here.MARTIN: If customers ask you for your recommendations, what are you informing them?BERCOVICI: First thing we inform them is exercise extreme caution. There are no assurances consisted of in this email. The only thing I can tell you for certain is that if you alter your mind, the company’s most likely not going to let you withdraw that resignation, employment and you are basically quiting control over a lot.MARTIN: Is there some category of worker who you think this might benefit? Maybe they’re close to retirement. Is someone like that may this be an attractive offer?BERCOVICI: Folks near retirement require to be the most cautious because leaving earlier than meant can have severe consequences, 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 bargain for individuals who don’t desire to go back to the office. Let me just play it.(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)KAROLINE LEAVITT: This is a recommendation to federal workers that they have to return in – to work. And employment if they do not, then they have the alternative to resign, and this administration is extremely generously using to pay them for eight months.MARTIN: You’re shaking your head no.BERCOVICI: It simply – in a manner, it breaks my heart that federal workers are being jerked around like this. It sends out a signal to me that this return-to-office order remains in bad faith, that it’s developed to get folks who work really hard to resign. I think it’s attempting to pull the wool over a lot of people’s eyes due to the fact that there are no guarantees. And these are individuals who like their task. They enjoy the objective of the agency. They strive. And today, they’re facing extremely hard choices, specifically if they’re remote. I suggest, it’s very coercive.MARTIN: You state it’s coercive. Because?BERCOVICI: Essentially, if you’re somebody who resides in Oregon and has been to report to D.C. or else we’re going to fire you, they might feel that they have no option than to take this option.MARTIN: Do you expect legal obstacles just to the deal itself? And if so, on what grounds?BERCOVICI: This deal, to be truthful, is so extraordinary that I think a lot of us are still attempting to find out what to do with it. I’m not sure if the offer itself might be challengeable. I think the bigger concern is the execution of these terms. I’m not familiar with any authority that exists today for OPM to buy agencies to offer this variety of individuals administrative leave. So I think it is quite potentially setting the phase for difficulties because I feel OPM has vastly surpassed their authority.MARTIN: That is Michelle Bercovici. She is an employment lawyer 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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