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

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST: Federal workers have until February 6 to choose whether to voluntarily leave their jobs. The U.S. Office of Personnel Management, OPM, informed employees 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 take leave and be paid up until 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 analysis about what OPM’s delayed resignation program would really mean.MICHELLE BERCOVICI: I in fact don’t consider it so much a deal. I believe it’s a demand to resign with a vague pledge that, potentially, you might be kept in administrative leave status for up to eight months – however no guarantees.MARTIN: Some people have been using the term buyout to explain what this is because there appears to be the offer of administrative leave for up to eight months if you take this deal. So is it a buyout?BERCOVICI: I would definitely not explain it as a buyout. I believe that’s a really deceptive term to use in this situation. When you think of a buyout, there’s generally some sort of written arrangement or a concrete offer to offer an advantage in exchange for waiving specific 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 exercise extreme caution. There are no assurances consisted of in this e-mail. The only thing I can inform you for particular is that if you alter your mind, the agency’s probably not going to let you withdraw that resignation, and you are essentially giving up control over a lot.MARTIN: Exists some classification of staff member who you think this might benefit? Maybe they’re close to retirement. Is somebody like that may this be an appealing offer?BERCOVICI: Folks near retirement require to be the most mindful because leaving earlier than intended 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 an excellent offer for individuals who do not wish to go back to the office. Let me just play it.(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)KAROLINE LEAVITT: This is a recommendation to federal employees that they have to return in – to work. And if they do not, then they have the option to resign, and this administration is extremely kindly using to pay them for 8 months.MARTIN: You’re shaking your head no.BERCOVICI: It just – 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, referall.us that it’s created to get folks who work truly hard to resign. I think it’s attempting to pull the wool over a great deal of people’s eyes because there are no assurances. And these are people who like their job. They love the objective of the company. They strive. And right now, they’re dealing with very tough choices, especially if they’re remote. I suggest, it’s really coercive.MARTIN: You say it’s coercive. Because?BERCOVICI: Essentially, if you’re somebody who resides in Oregon and somalibidders.com has been informed to report to D.C. otherwise we’re going to fire you, they might feel that they have no choice than to take this option.MARTIN: Do you anticipate legal obstacles simply to the deal itself? And if so, on what grounds?BERCOVICI: This deal, to be truthful, is so unmatched that I believe a lot 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 question is the execution of these terms. I’m not aware of any authority that exists today for OPM to order to offer this number of individuals administrative leave. So I think it is extremely much perhaps setting the phase for difficulties because I feel OPM has vastly surpassed their authority.MARTIN: That is Michelle Bercovici. She is a work attorney 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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