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

MICHEL MARTIN, employment HOST: Federal workers have up until February 6 to choose whether to voluntarily leave their jobs. The U.S. Office of Personnel Management, OPM, informed employees 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 take leave and be paid till completion of September. Michelle Bercovici is an employment attorney who represents federal workers as a large part of her practice, so I asked her for her analysis about what OPM’s delayed resignation program would really mean.MICHELLE BERCOVICI: I actually do not consider it a lot an offer. I think it’s a demand to resign with a vague promise that, potentially, you could be kept in administrative leave status for approximately 8 months – but no guarantees.MARTIN: Some individuals have been utilizing the term buyout to describe what this is since there seems to be the offer of administrative leave for as much as eight months if you take this deal. So is it a buyout?BERCOVICI: I would absolutely not describe it as a buyout. I think that’s a very deceptive term to utilize 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 clients ask you for employment your advice, what are you informing them?BERCOVICI: First thing we inform them is exercise extreme care. There are no assurances consisted of in this email. The only thing I can inform you for certain is that if you alter your mind, the agency’s most likely not going to let you withdraw that resignation, and you are basically giving up control over a lot.MARTIN: Exists some category of employee 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 planned can have serious effects, potentially, on their benefits.MARTIN: Let me just play a clip from the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt. She informed press reporters that this is an excellent deal for people who don’t desire to return to the office. Let me just play it.(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)KAROLINE LEAVITT: This is a suggestion to federal workers that they need to return in – to work. And if they do not, then they have the alternative to resign, and this administration is very kindly providing to pay them for eight months.MARTIN: You’re shaking your head no.BERCOVICI: It just – in such a way, it breaks my heart that federal staff members are being jerked around like this. It sends a signal to me that this order remains in bad faith, that it’s created to get folks who work really hard to resign. I believe it’s attempting to pull the wool over a lot of individuals’s eyes due to the fact that there are no guarantees. And employment these are individuals who like their task. They love the mission of the company. They work hard. And right now, they’re facing very difficult choices, particularly if they’re remote. I imply, it’s very coercive.MARTIN: You say it’s coercive. Because?BERCOVICI: Essentially, if you’re somebody who resides in Oregon and has been informed 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 difficulties simply to the deal itself? And if so, on what grounds?BERCOVICI: This offer, to be honest, is so unmatched that I think a lot of us are still attempting to determine what to do with it. I’m uncertain if the offer itself may be challengeable. I believe the bigger concern is the execution of these terms. I’m not familiar with any authority that exists right now for OPM to buy agencies to provide this number of people administrative leave. So I think it is very much perhaps setting the phase for challenges since I feel OPM has actually 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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