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

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST: Federal employees have till February 6 to choose whether to willingly leave their jobs. 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 allowed to depart and be paid till completion of September. Michelle Bercovici is a work lawyer who represents federal employees as a big part of her practice, so I asked her for her analysis about what OPM’s delayed resignation program would in fact mean.MICHELLE BERCOVICI: I in fact don’t consider it so much a deal. I think it’s a request to resign with a vague guarantee that, potentially, you might be kept in administrative leave status for up to 8 months – but no guarantees.MARTIN: Some individuals have been utilizing the term buyout to explain what this is due to the fact that there seems to be the deal of administrative leave for as much as eight months if you take this offer. So is it a buyout?BERCOVICI: I would never explain it as a buyout. I think that’s a really deceptive term to utilize in this situation. When you think about a buyout, there’s usually some sort of written arrangement 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 advice, what are you telling them?BERCOVICI: First thing we inform them is workout severe caution. There are no warranties included in this e-mail. The only thing I can inform you for particular is that if you alter your mind, referall.us the agency’s probably not going to let you withdraw that resignation, and you are essentially quiting control over a lot.MARTIN: Exists some classification of employee who you think this might benefit? Maybe they’re close to retirement. Is somebody like that may this be an attractive offer?BERCOVICI: Folks near retirement require to be the most mindful because leaving earlier than meant can have serious consequences, 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 good offer for people who do not want to go back to the workplace. Let me simply play it.(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)KAROLINE LEAVITT: This is a suggestion to federal workers that they have to return in – to work. And if they don’t, then they have the alternative to resign, and this administration is really generously 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 employees 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 truly difficult to resign. I think it’s trying to pull the wool over a great deal of people’s eyes due to the fact that there are no guarantees. And these are people who like their job. They love the mission of the company. They strive. And today, they’re facing really difficult choices, especially if they’re remote. I indicate, it’s extremely coercive.MARTIN: You state it’s coercive. Because?BERCOVICI: Essentially, if you’re someone who lives 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 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 unmatched that I believe a lot of us are still attempting to find out what to do with it. I’m not sure if the offer itself may be challengeable. I think the bigger question is the execution of these terms. I’m not aware of any authority that exists today for OPM to order firms to provide this number of people administrative leave. So I think it is very much possibly setting the phase for difficulties because I feel OPM has actually significantly exceeded their authority.MARTIN: That is Michelle Bercovici. She is a work legal representative with the Alden Law Group here in Washington, D.C. Thank you so much for us.BERCOVICI: Thank you so much for having me here.

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