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

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST: Federal workers have until February 6 to decide whether to willingly leave their tasks. 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 allowed to depart and be paid up until completion of September. Michelle Bercovici is an employment legal representative 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 really mean.MICHELLE BERCOVICI: I actually don’t consider it so much an offer. I believe it’s a demand to resign with an unclear pledge that, possibly, you could be kept in administrative leave status for job up to eight months – however no guarantees.MARTIN: Some individuals have actually been utilizing the term buyout to describe what this is because there appears to be the offer of administrative leave for as much as 8 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 really misleading term to use in this scenario. When you consider a buyout, there’s typically some sort of written agreement or a concrete offer to supply an advantage in exchange for waiving particular rights. That is not the case here.MARTIN: If clients ask you for your suggestions, what are you telling them?BERCOVICI: First thing we tell them is workout extreme care. There are no guarantees included in this email. The only thing I can inform you for particular is that if you alter your mind, the firm’s probably not going to let you withdraw that resignation, and you are essentially providing up control over a lot.MARTIN: Is there some category of employee who you think this might benefit? Maybe they’re close to retirement. Is someone like that may this be an appealing offer?BERCOVICI: Folks near retirement require to be the most cautious since leaving earlier than planned can have severe 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 an excellent offer for people who do not want to return to the office. Let me just play it.(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)KAROLINE LEAVITT: This is a recommendation to federal employees that they have to return in – to work. And if they don’t, then they have the choice to resign, and this administration is very kindly using to pay them for eight months.MARTIN: You’re shaking your head no.BERCOVICI: It just – in a way, 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 actually difficult to resign. I believe it’s trying to pull the wool over a great deal of people’s eyes because there are no warranties. And these are individuals who love their job. They enjoy the mission of the company. They strive. And today, they’re dealing with very difficult options, especially if they’re remote. I suggest, 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. 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 difficulties simply to the deal itself? And if so, on what grounds?BERCOVICI: This offer, to be honest, is so unprecedented that I think a lot of us are still attempting to find out what to do with it. I’m not exactly sure if the deal itself may be challengeable. I believe the larger question is the execution of these terms. I’m not familiar with any authority that exists right now for OPM to purchase firms to provide this number of individuals administrative leave. So I believe it is quite potentially setting the stage for difficulties since I feel OPM has actually vastly exceeded their authority.MARTIN: That is Michelle Bercovici. She is an representative with the Alden Law Group here in Washington, D.C. Thank you a lot for signing up with us.BERCOVICI: Thank you a lot for having me here.

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