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 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 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 analysis about what OPM's delayed resignation program would in fact mean.MICHELLE BERCOVICI: I actually don't consider it a lot a deal. I think it's a request to resign with an unclear guarantee that, possibly, you could be kept in administrative leave status for as much as 8 months - but no guarantees.MARTIN: Some people have been using the term buyout to explain what this is since there seems to be the deal of administrative leave for up to 8 months if you take this deal. So is it a buyout?BERCOVICI: I would absolutely not explain it as a buyout. I believe that's a very deceptive term to use in this . When you consider a buyout, there's usually some sort of composed 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 recommendations, what are you telling them?BERCOVICI: First thing we inform them is exercise severe care. There are no warranties contained in this email. The only thing I can tell you for specific is that if you alter your mind, the firm's probably not going to let you withdraw that resignation, and you are basically quiting control over a lot.MARTIN: Is there some classification of staff member 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 because leaving earlier than meant 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 press reporters that this is a great deal for individuals who don't wish to return to the office. Let me just play it.(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)KAROLINE LEAVITT: This is a tip to federal employees that they need to return in - to work. And if they don't, then they have the choice to resign, and this administration is very kindly using to pay them for eight months.MARTIN: You're shaking your head no.BERCOVICI: It simply - in a manner, it breaks my heart that federal staff members 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 designed to get folks who work actually difficult to resign. I believe it's attempting to pull the wool over a lot of people's eyes because there are no assurances. And these are individuals who enjoy their job. They love the objective of the firm. They work hard. And today, they're dealing with extremely hard options, especially if they're remote. I suggest, it's extremely coercive.MARTIN: You state it's coercive. Because?BERCOVICI: Essentially, if you're someone who lives in Oregon and has been told to report to D.C. or else we're going to fire you, they might feel that they have no choice than to take this option.MARTIN: Do you expect legal obstacles simply to the offer itself? And if so, on what grounds?BERCOVICI: employment This offer, to be sincere, is so unprecedented that I think a lot of us are still trying to figure out what to do with it. I'm not sure if the offer itself might be challengeable. I believe the bigger question is the execution of these terms. I'm not knowledgeable about any authority that exists today for OPM to buy firms to provide this number of people administrative leave. So I think it is quite potentially setting the phase for difficulties because I feel OPM has actually greatly surpassed their authority.MARTIN: That is Michelle Bercovici. She is an employment attorney with the Alden Law Group here in Washington, D.C. Thank you so much for signing up with us.BERCOVICI: Thank you so much for having me here.
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