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

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST: Federal employees have till 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 attorney who represents federal employees as a large part of her practice, so I asked her for her interpretation about what OPM’s delayed resignation program would actually mean.MICHELLE BERCOVICI: I really do not consider it so much an offer. I think it’s a demand somalibidders.com to resign with an unclear pledge that, referall.us possibly, you might be kept in administrative leave status for approximately eight months – but no guarantees.MARTIN: Some people have actually 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 very deceptive term to use in this scenario. When you think of a buyout, there’s normally some sort of written contract or a concrete deal to offer an advantage in exchange for waiving particular rights. That is not the case here.MARTIN: If clients ask you for your suggestions, what are you informing them?BERCOVICI: First thing we inform them is exercise severe caution. There are no assurances consisted of in this email. The only thing I can tell you for specific is that if you alter your mind, the company’s most likely 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 attractive offer?BERCOVICI: Folks near retirement require to be the most careful due to the fact that leaving earlier than planned can have severe repercussions, potentially, on their benefits.MARTIN: Let me simply play a clip from the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt. She told reporters that this is an excellent deal for individuals who don’t desire to go back to the workplace. Let me just play it.(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)KAROLINE LEAVITT: This is a tip to federal workers that they have to return in – to work. And if they don’t, then they have the alternative to resign, and this administration is extremely kindly using to pay them for eight months.MARTIN: You’re shaking your head no.BERCOVICI: It just – in a method, 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 remains in bad faith, that it’s developed to get folks who work truly tough to resign. I believe it’s trying to pull the wool over a lot of people’s eyes since there are no assurances. And these are people who like their job. They like the objective of the firm. They strive. And today, they’re dealing with extremely tough choices, particularly if they’re remote. I mean, it’s extremely coercive.MARTIN: You say 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 difficulties just to the deal itself? And if so, on what grounds?BERCOVICI: This deal, to be truthful, is so extraordinary that I believe a lot of us are still attempting to determine what to do with it. I’m not sure if the offer itself may be challengeable. I believe the bigger concern is the execution of these terms. I’m not knowledgeable about any authority that exists right now for OPM to order agencies to offer this number of people administrative leave. So I believe it is extremely much possibly setting the stage for difficulties because I feel OPM has actually vastly exceeded their authority.MARTIN: That is Michelle Bercovici. She is an employment with the Alden Law Group here in Washington, D.C. Thank you a lot for joining us.BERCOVICI: Thank you a lot for having me here.

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