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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 jobs. The U.S. Office of Personnel Management, OPM, informed 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 till the end of September. Michelle Bercovici is an employment lawyer who represents federal staff members as a large 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 do not consider it so much an offer. I believe it’s a request to resign with an unclear guarantee that, potentially, you might be kept in administrative leave status for up to 8 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 as much as eight months if you take this offer. So is it a buyout?BERCOVICI: I would absolutely not explain it as a buyout. I believe that’s a very misleading term to utilize in this situation. When you think of a buyout, there’s normally some sort of composed contract or a concrete offer to supply a benefit 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 tell them is exercise extreme care. There are no assurances contained in this email. The only thing I can inform you for particular is that if you change your mind, the firm’s probably not going to let you withdraw that resignation, and you are basically giving up control over a lot.MARTIN: Exists some classification of staff member 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 careful because leaving earlier than meant can have serious consequences, possibly, referall.us on their benefits.MARTIN: Let me just play a clip from the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt. She informed press reporters that this is an excellent offer for people who do not desire to go back to the office. Let me simply play it.(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)KAROLINE LEAVITT: This is an idea to federal workers that they need to return in – to work. And if they don’t, then they have the choice to resign, and this administration is really kindly offering to pay them for 8 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 is in bad faith, that it’s created to get folks who work really hard to resign. I believe it’s attempting to pull the wool over a great deal of individuals’s eyes because there are no warranties. And these are individuals who like their task. They love the mission of the agency. They work hard. And right now, they’re facing extremely tough choices, specifically if they’re remote. I mean, it’s very coercive.MARTIN: You state it’s coercive. Because?BERCOVICI: Essentially, if you’re someone who lives in Oregon and has been informed to report to D.C. or else 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 difficulties just to the deal itself? And if so, on what grounds?BERCOVICI: This offer, to be honest, is so extraordinary that I think a great deal of us are still attempting to figure out what to do with it. I’m not sure if the offer itself might be challengeable. I think the larger question is the execution of these terms. I’m not knowledgeable about any authority that exists right now for OPM to purchase firms to give this variety of individuals administrative leave. So I think it is really much possibly setting the stage for challenges because I has actually vastly surpassed 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 a lot for having me here.

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