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

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST: Federal employees have until February 6 to decide whether to willingly leave their jobs. The U.S. Office of Personnel Management, employment 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 until completion of September. Michelle Bercovici is a work attorney who represents federal staff members as a big part of her practice, so I asked her for her analysis about what OPM’s postponed resignation program would actually mean.MICHELLE BERCOVICI: I in fact don’t consider it so much an offer. I think it’s a request to resign with a vague pledge that, possibly, you might be kept in administrative leave status for approximately eight months – but no guarantees.MARTIN: Some individuals have actually been utilizing 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 misleading term to utilize in this situation. When you consider a buyout, there’s typically some sort of composed arrangement or a concrete offer to offer 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 guarantees consisted of in this email. The only thing I can inform you for particular is that if you alter your mind, the company’s probably not going to let you withdraw that resignation, and you are basically quiting control over a lot.MARTIN: Exists some category of worker who you believe this might benefit? Maybe they’re close to retirement. Is somebody like that might 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 major consequences, possibly, employment 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 employment individuals who don’t wish 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 have to return in – to work. And if they don’t, then they have the option to resign, and employment this administration is very kindly providing to pay them for 8 months.MARTIN: employment You’re shaking your head no.BERCOVICI: It in a method, 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 developed to get folks who work really tough to resign. I think it’s trying to pull the wool over a lot of people’s eyes since there are no guarantees. And these are individuals who enjoy their task. They love the objective of the agency. They work hard. And right now, they’re facing very hard options, particularly if they’re remote. I mean, 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: employment Do you anticipate legal challenges just to the offer itself? And if so, on what grounds?BERCOVICI: employment This deal, to be sincere, is so unprecedented that I think a great deal of us are still trying to figure out what to do with it. I’m unsure if the deal itself might be challengeable. I think the larger question is the execution of these terms. I’m not knowledgeable about any authority that exists today for OPM to purchase firms to offer this number of people administrative leave. So I believe it is quite potentially setting the phase for challenges since I feel OPM has significantly 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 so much for having me here.

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