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

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST: Federal staff members have until February 6 to decide whether to voluntarily leave their jobs. 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 allowed to take leave and be paid till completion of September. Michelle Bercovici is an employment attorney who represents federal workers as a big part of her practice, so I asked her for her interpretation about what OPM’s deferred resignation program would in fact mean.MICHELLE BERCOVICI: I really don’t consider it so much an offer. I believe it’s a demand to resign with an unclear pledge that, potentially, you could be kept in administrative leave status for employment as much as eight months – however no guarantees.MARTIN: Some individuals have actually been using the term buyout to explain what this is since there appears to be the deal of administrative leave for up to eight months if you take this deal. So is it a buyout?BERCOVICI: I would never describe it as a buyout. I think that’s a very deceptive term to use in this circumstance. When you consider a buyout, there’s generally some sort of written contract or a concrete deal to supply an advantage in exchange for waiving certain rights. That is not the case here.MARTIN: If clients ask you for your guidance, employment what are you informing them?BERCOVICI: First thing we tell them is exercise extreme care. There are no guarantees included 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 employment you are essentially giving up control over a lot.MARTIN: employment Is there some category of worker who you think this might benefit? Maybe they’re close to retirement. Is somebody like that may this be an attractive offer?BERCOVICI: Folks near retirement need to be the most careful since leaving earlier than meant can have serious consequences, possibly, on their benefits.MARTIN: Let me just play a clip from the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt. She informed reporters that this is a bargain for individuals who do not desire to go back to the office. Let me simply play it.(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)KAROLINE LEAVITT: This is a suggestion to federal workers that they need to return in – to work. And if they don’t, then they have the option to resign, and this administration is really kindly using to pay them for 8 months.MARTIN: You’re shaking your head no.BERCOVICI: It just – in such a way, 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 is in bad faith, that it’s developed to get folks who work actually tough to resign. I think it’s trying to pull the wool over a great deal of individuals’s eyes since there are no guarantees. And these are people who love their job. They love the objective of the company. They work hard. And today, they’re dealing with really difficult choices, specifically if they’re remote. I suggest, it’s extremely coercive.MARTIN: You state it’s coercive. Because?BERCOVICI: Essentially, if you’re somebody 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 just to the deal itself? And if so, on what grounds?BERCOVICI: This offer, to be truthful, is so unprecedented that I think a great deal of us are still attempting to determine what to do with it. I’m not exactly sure if the offer itself may be challengeable. I believe the larger concern is the execution of these terms. I’m not familiar with any authority that exists today for OPM to buy companies to provide this variety of people administrative leave. So I think it is extremely much potentially setting the stage for challenges since I feel OPM has actually vastly surpassed 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 joining us.BERCOVICI: Thank you so much for having me here.

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