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

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST: 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 allowed to depart and be paid till the end of September. Michelle Bercovici is a work attorney who represents federal workers as a large part of her practice, so I asked her for her analysis about what OPM’s postponed resignation program would in fact mean.MICHELLE BERCOVICI: I really don’t consider it a lot an offer. I believe it’s a demand to resign with an unclear guarantee that, potentially, you might be kept in administrative leave status for approximately eight months – however no guarantees.MARTIN: Some people have been utilizing the term buyout to describe what this is since there appears to be the deal of administrative leave for as much as eight months if you take this deal. So is it a buyout?BERCOVICI: I would definitely not describe it as a buyout. I believe that’s a very misleading term to use in this scenario. When you consider a buyout, there’s usually some sort of composed arrangement or a concrete offer to offer a benefit in exchange for waiving particular rights. That is not the case here.MARTIN: If clients ask you for your guidance, what are you informing them?BERCOVICI: First thing we inform them is exercise severe care. There are no warranties consisted of in this email. The only thing I can inform you for specific is that if you alter your mind, the firm’s probably 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 believe this might benefit? Maybe they’re close to retirement. Is somebody like that might this be an appealing offer?BERCOVICI: Folks near retirement need to be the most cautious since leaving earlier than intended 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 individuals who don’t desire to return to the office. Let me simply play it.(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)KAROLINE LEAVITT: This is a recommendation to federal workers that they need to return in – to work. And if they don’t, then they have the option to resign, and this administration is very kindly offering to pay them for 8 months.MARTIN: You’re shaking your head no.BERCOVICI: It simply – 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 return-to-office order remains in bad faith, that it’s designed to get folks who work actually hard to resign. I believe it’s attempting 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 enjoy their job. They love the mission of the firm. They strive. And today, they’re facing extremely difficult choices, especially if they’re remote. I indicate, it’s really 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. otherwise we’re going to fire you, they might feel that they have no option than to take this option.MARTIN: Do you prepare for legal challenges just to the offer itself? And if so, on what grounds?BERCOVICI: This offer, to be honest, is so extraordinary that I believe a great deal of us are still trying to figure out what to do with it. I’m unsure if the offer itself might be challengeable. I think the larger question is the execution of these terms. I’m not familiar with any authority that exists right now for OPM to buy firms to give this number of individuals administrative leave. So I believe it is quite perhaps setting the stage for difficulties since I feel OPM has actually significantly exceeded their authority.MARTIN: That is Michelle Bercovici. She is an employment legal representative with the Alden Law Group here in Washington, D.C. Thank you a lot for joining us.BERCOVICI: referall.us Thank you so much for having me here.

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