
Securityjobs
Add a review FollowOverview
-
Founded Date April 23, 1982
-
Posted Jobs 0
-
Viewed 7
Company Description
Employment Lawyer Discusses what Trump Offer to Federal Employees to Resign Would Do
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST: Federal staff members have up until February 6 to choose whether to willingly 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 till completion of September.
Michelle Bercovici is an employment lawyer who represents federal staff members as a large part of her practice, so I asked her for her interpretation about what OPM’s postponed resignation program would really mean.MICHELLE BERCOVICI: I actually do not consider it a lot a deal. I believe it’s a demand to resign with a vague guarantee that, possibly, you might be kept in administrative leave status for up to 8 months – but no guarantees.MARTIN: Some people have actually been using the term buyout to explain what this is since 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 absolutely not explain it as a buyout. I think that’s an extremely deceptive term to utilize in this circumstance. When you think about a buyout, there’s normally some sort of composed agreement or a concrete deal to provide an advantage in exchange for waiving particular rights. That is not the case here.MARTIN: If customers ask you for your guidance, what are you informing them?BERCOVICI: First thing we inform them is workout severe care.
There are no warranties contained in this email. The only thing I can inform you for certain is that if you alter your mind, the firm’s probably not going to let you withdraw that resignation, and you are basically providing up control over a lot.MARTIN: Is there some classification of employee who you believe 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 due to the fact that leaving earlier than meant can have serious effects, potentially, on their benefits.MARTIN: Let me just play a clip from the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt. She told press reporters that this is a bargain for individuals who do not want to return to the workplace. Let me just play it.(SOUNDBITE OF RECORDING)KAROLINE LEAVITT: This is a tip to federal workers that they have to return in – to work. And if they do not, then they have the alternative to resign, and this administration is extremely kindly 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 employees 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 actually hard to resign. I believe it’s trying to pull the wool over a great deal of individuals’s eyes because there are no guarantees. And these are individuals who like their task. They like the mission of the company. They work hard. And right now, referall.us they’re facing extremely tough options, specifically 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 told 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 prepare for legal challenges just to the offer itself? And if so, on what grounds?BERCOVICI: This deal, to be sincere, is so unprecedented that I believe a lot of us are still trying to find out what to do with it. I’m unsure if the deal itself might be challengeable. I believe the larger concern is the execution of these terms. I’m not aware of any authority that exists today for OPM to order companies to offer this variety of people administrative leave. So I believe it is really much perhaps setting the stage for difficulties because I feel OPM has actually significantly surpassed 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 signing up with us.BERCOVICI: Thank you a lot for having me here.
Copyright © 2025 NPR. All rights scheduled. Visit our website regards to use and consents pages at www.npr.org for further info.
NPR transcripts are developed on a rush deadline by an NPR specialist. This text might not remain in its final type and might be upgraded or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability might vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programs is the audio record.