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 decide whether to willingly leave their tasks. The U.S. Office of Personnel Management, employment OPM, employment notified employees 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 a work lawyer who represents federal staff members as a big part of her practice, so I asked her for employment her analysis about what OPM’s delayed resignation program would in fact mean.MICHELLE BERCOVICI: I in fact do not consider it a lot an offer. I think it’s a request to resign with an unclear pledge that, potentially, you could be kept in administrative leave status for up to 8 months – however no guarantees.MARTIN: Some individuals have been using the term buyout to explain what this is since there seems to be the offer of administrative leave for up to 8 months if you take this deal. So is it a buyout?BERCOVICI: I would absolutely not describe it as a buyout. I believe that’s a really deceptive term to utilize in this circumstance. When you believe of a buyout, there’s usually some sort of composed agreement or a concrete offer to provide a benefit in exchange for waiving specific rights. That is not the case here.MARTIN: If clients ask you for your recommendations, what are you informing them?BERCOVICI: First thing we tell them is workout severe care. There are no guarantees contained in this e-mail. The only thing I can inform you for certain is that if you alter your mind, the company’s most likely not going to let you withdraw that resignation, and you are essentially quiting control over a lot.MARTIN: Is there some category 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 careful since leaving earlier than meant can have severe effects, possibly, on their benefits.MARTIN: Let me simply play a clip from the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt. She informed press reporters that this is a bargain for individuals who don’t wish to go back to the workplace. Let me simply play it.(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)KAROLINE LEAVITT: This is a recommendation to federal workers that they have to return in – to work. And if they do not, then they have the choice 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 staff members are being jerked around like this. It sends a signal to me that this return-to-office order remains in bad faith, employment that it’s designed to get folks who work actually tough to resign. I think it’s attempting to pull the wool over a lot of people’s eyes because there are no assurances. And these are people who enjoy their task. They enjoy the mission of the agency. They work hard. And today, they’re facing very tough options, especially if they’re remote. I mean, it’s really coercive.MARTIN: employment 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 obstacles simply to the offer itself? And if so, on what grounds?BERCOVICI: This offer, to be truthful, is so extraordinary that I believe a lot of us are still trying to find out what to do with it. I’m uncertain if the offer itself may be challengeable. I think the bigger question is the execution of these terms. I’m not familiar with any authority that exists today for OPM to order to provide this number of individuals administrative leave. So I think it is quite possibly setting the phase for challenges because I feel OPM has greatly surpassed their authority.MARTIN: That is Michelle Bercovici. She is an employment attorney with the Alden Law Group here in Washington, employment D.C. Thank you a lot for employment joining us.BERCOVICI: Thank you a lot for having me here.

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