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 choose whether to voluntarily 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 enabled to depart and be paid up until the end of September. Michelle Bercovici is a work attorney who represents federal staff members as a large part of her practice, so I asked her for her analysis about what OPM’s delayed resignation program would actually mean.MICHELLE BERCOVICI: I really do not consider it a lot a deal. I believe it’s a demand to resign with a vague promise that, possibly, you could be kept in administrative leave status for employment as much as 8 months – but no guarantees.MARTIN: Some individuals have actually been utilizing the term buyout to explain what this is since there seems to be the offer of administrative leave for as much as eight months if you take this deal. So is it a buyout?BERCOVICI: I would never explain it as a buyout. I believe that’s a really misleading term to utilize in this situation. When you think about a buyout, there’s typically some sort of written agreement or a concrete offer to provide a benefit in exchange for waiving certain rights. That is not the case here.MARTIN: If customers ask you for your guidance, what are you informing them?BERCOVICI: First thing we tell them is exercise extreme caution. There are no assurances consisted of in this email. The only thing I can tell you for particular is that if you change your mind, the agency’s probably not going to let you withdraw that resignation, and you are essentially providing up control over a lot.MARTIN: Exists some classification of worker 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 because leaving earlier than meant can have serious repercussions, possibly, 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 bargain for people who don’t wish to return to the office. 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 alternative to resign, and this administration is extremely kindly providing to pay them for employment 8 months.MARTIN: You’re shaking your head no.BERCOVICI: It simply – in such a way, 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 hard to resign. I think it’s trying to pull the wool over a great deal of individuals’s eyes since there are no assurances. And these are individuals who enjoy their job. They love the mission of the agency. They work hard. And right now, they’re facing extremely difficult choices, especially if they’re remote. I imply, it’s very coercive.MARTIN: You state it’s coercive. Because?BERCOVICI: Essentially, employment if you’re somebody 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 prepare for simply to the offer itself? And if so, employment on what grounds?BERCOVICI: employment This offer, to be sincere, employment is so extraordinary that I think a great deal of us are still trying to find out what to do with it. I’m not exactly sure if the offer itself may be challengeable. I think the bigger question is the execution of these terms. I’m not knowledgeable about any authority that exists today for OPM to order agencies to provide this number of people administrative leave. So I think it is very much possibly setting the stage for obstacles because I feel OPM has greatly exceeded their authority.MARTIN: That is Michelle Bercovici. She is an employment legal representative 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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