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

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST: Federal employees have up until 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 by next Thursday – that’s less than a week from now – most will be allowed to take leave and be paid till completion of September. Michelle Bercovici is an employment legal representative who represents federal employees as a large part of her practice, so I asked her for her interpretation about what OPM’s delayed resignation program would actually mean.MICHELLE BERCOVICI: I in fact do not consider it so much an offer. I think it’s a demand to resign with an unclear pledge that, possibly, you might be kept in administrative leave status for as much as eight months – but no guarantees.MARTIN: Some individuals have been using the term buyout to explain what this is due to the fact that there seems to be the offer of administrative leave for up to 8 months if you take this offer. So is it a buyout?BERCOVICI: I would never describe it as a buyout. I think that’s a really deceptive term to use in this scenario. When you think about a buyout, there’s normally some sort of composed contract or a concrete deal to offer a benefit in exchange for waiving certain rights. That is not the case here.MARTIN: somalibidders.com If clients ask you for your advice, what are you informing them?BERCOVICI: First thing we inform them is exercise extreme caution. There are no guarantees consisted of in this e-mail. The only thing I can tell you for particular 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: Is there some classification of staff member 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 severe consequences, potentially, on their benefits.MARTIN: Let me just play a clip from the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt. She told reporters that this is a bargain for people who don’t desire to go back to the workplace. Let me simply play it.(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)KAROLINE LEAVITT: This is an idea to federal employees that they have to return in – to work. And if they don’t, then they have the option to resign, and this administration is extremely kindly offering to pay them for eight months.MARTIN: You’re shaking your head no.BERCOVICI: referall.us It simply – in a manner, it breaks my heart that federal workers are being jerked around like this. It sends out a signal to me that this return-to-office order is in bad faith, that it’s designed to get folks who work really difficult to resign. I think it’s attempting to pull the wool over a great deal of individuals’s eyes since there are no warranties. And these are individuals who enjoy their job. They like the mission of the company. They strive. And right now, they’re dealing with extremely tough options, 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 resides 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 expect legal challenges just to the offer itself? And if so, on what grounds?BERCOVICI: This offer, to be sincere, is so unprecedented that I think a lot of us are still attempting to figure out what to do with it. I’m unsure if the offer itself might be challengeable. I think the bigger concern is the execution of these terms. I’m not conscious of any authority that exists today for OPM to purchase agencies to provide this number of people administrative leave. So I think it is quite potentially setting the phase for difficulties since I feel OPM has actually significantly exceeded their authority.MARTIN: That is Michelle Bercovici. She is a work 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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