Eduplus

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

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST: Federal workers have till 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 enabled to take leave and be paid till completion of September. Michelle Bercovici is a work legal representative who represents federal workers 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 in fact don’t consider it so much a deal. I believe it’s a request to resign with a vague pledge that, possibly, employment you might be kept in administrative leave status for as much as 8 months – however no guarantees.MARTIN: Some people have been using the term buyout to explain what this is because there seems to be the offer of administrative leave for 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 believe that’s a very deceptive term to use in this situation. When you think about a buyout, there’s usually some sort of composed 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 guidance, what are you informing them?BERCOVICI: First thing we tell them is exercise severe caution. There are no assurances consisted of in this email. The only thing I can tell 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 basically quiting 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 somebody like that may this be an appealing offer?BERCOVICI: Folks near retirement require to be the most careful since leaving earlier than meant can have serious effects, potentially, on their benefits.MARTIN: Let me simply play a clip from the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt. She told press reporters that this is a bargain for individuals who don’t want to go back to the workplace. Let me just play it.(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)KAROLINE LEAVITT: This is an idea to that they have to return in – to work. And if they don’t, then they have the option to resign, and this administration is really generously offering to pay them for eight months.MARTIN: You’re shaking your head no.BERCOVICI: It just – in a method, it breaks my heart that federal workers 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 created to get folks who work really hard to resign. I think it’s trying to pull the wool over a great deal of people’s eyes since there are no guarantees. And these are individuals who enjoy their task. They like the objective of the agency. They work hard. And today, they’re facing extremely hard options, especially if they’re remote. I imply, it’s extremely coercive.MARTIN: You say it’s coercive. Because?BERCOVICI: Essentially, if you’re someone who resides 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: employment Do you anticipate legal challenges simply to the deal itself? And if so, employment on what grounds?BERCOVICI: This deal, to be truthful, is so extraordinary that I think a great deal of us are still trying to find out what to do with it. I’m unsure if the deal itself may be challengeable. I think the bigger concern is the execution of these terms. I’m not aware of any authority that exists today for OPM to purchase companies to offer this number of individuals administrative leave. So I believe it is very much potentially setting the stage for employment challenges 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.

Copyright © 2025 NPR. All rights booked. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for additional info.

NPR transcripts are developed on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text might not be in its final type and might be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and accessibility might vary. The reliable record of NPR’s shows is the audio record.