Employment Lawyer Discusses what Trump Offer to Federal Employees to Resign Would Do
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST: employment Federal employees have till February 6 to choose whether to willingly 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 enabled to depart and be paid up until the end of September.
Michelle Bercovici is an employment attorney who represents federal employees as a big part of her practice, employment so I asked her for her interpretation about what OPM’s delayed resignation program would really mean.MICHELLE BERCOVICI: employment I in fact don’t consider it so much a deal.
I think it’s a request to resign with a vague promise that, potentially, 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 up to eight 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 very misleading term to use in this circumstance. When you think about a buyout, there’s typically some sort of composed contract or a concrete deal to provide an advantage in exchange for waiving certain 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 caution. There are no assurances consisted of in this email. The only thing I can inform you for particular is that if you alter your mind, the firm’s most likely not going to let you withdraw that resignation, and you are essentially offering 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 might this be an appealing offer?BERCOVICI: Folks near retirement need to be the most mindful since leaving earlier than planned can have severe repercussions, potentially, on their benefits.MARTIN: Let me simply play a clip from the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt. She told press reporters that this is a great deal for people who do not desire to return to the workplace. Let me simply play it.(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)KAROLINE LEAVITT: This is a suggestion to federal employees that they need to return in – to work. And if they do not, then they have the option to resign, and this administration is extremely generously providing to pay them for employment eight months.MARTIN: You’re shaking your head no.BERCOVICI: It simply – in such a way, it breaks my heart that federal employees 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 truly difficult to resign. I think it’s trying to pull the wool over a lot of people’s eyes due to the fact that there are no guarantees. And these are people who love their task.
They love the objective of the agency. They strive. And today, they’re dealing with extremely difficult options, particularly if they’re remote. I imply, it’s really coercive.MARTIN: You state it’s coercive. Because?BERCOVICI: Essentially, if you’re someone who resides in Oregon and has been informed 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 for legal challenges just to the deal 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 determine what to do with it. I’m uncertain if the offer itself might be challengeable. I believe the bigger question is the execution of these terms. I’m not familiar with any authority that exists today for OPM to purchase companies to offer this number of individuals administrative leave. So I believe it is quite perhaps setting the phase for difficulties because I feel OPM has vastly exceeded their authority.MARTIN: That is Michelle Bercovici. She is an employment attorney with the Alden Law Group here in Washington, D.C. Thank you so much for joining us.BERCOVICI: Thank you a lot for having me here.
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