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 until completion of September. Michelle Bercovici is a work legal representative who represents federal employees as a large part of her practice, so I asked her for her analysis about what OPM's postponed resignation program would in fact mean.MICHELLE BERCOVICI: I really don't consider it a lot a deal. I believe it's a demand to resign with an unclear promise that, potentially, you could be kept in administrative leave status for as much as eight months - but no .MARTIN: Some people have been using the term buyout to describe what this is since there appears to be the offer of administrative leave for as much as 8 months if you take this offer. So is it a buyout?BERCOVICI: I would absolutely not describe it as a buyout. I think that's a really deceptive term to utilize in this scenario. When you think about a buyout, there's normally some sort of composed contract or a concrete offer to provide a benefit in exchange for waiving particular rights. That is not the case here.MARTIN: If clients ask you for your advice, what are you telling them?BERCOVICI: First thing we tell them is exercise extreme caution. There are no warranties included in this e-mail. The only thing I can tell you for specific is that if you change your mind, the company's most likely not going to let you withdraw that resignation, and you are essentially quiting control over a lot.MARTIN: Exists some category of employee who you think this might benefit? Maybe they're close to retirement. Is somebody like that might this be an appealing offer?BERCOVICI: Folks near retirement require to be the most careful because leaving earlier than meant can have serious effects, possibly, on their benefits.MARTIN: Let me simply play a clip from the White House press secretary, fillboards.com Karoline Leavitt. She told reporters that this is a bargain for individuals who don't desire to go back to the office. Let me simply play it.(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)KAROLINE LEAVITT: This is a recommendation to federal workers that they have to return in - to work. And if they don't, then they have the choice to resign, and iuridictum.pecina.cz this administration is extremely generously offering to pay them for eight 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 out a signal to me that this return-to-office order is in bad faith, that it's developed to get folks who work really hard to resign. I believe it's attempting to pull the wool over a great deal of people's eyes since there are no warranties. And botdb.win these are individuals who enjoy their job. They enjoy the mission of the firm. They work hard. And today, ura.cc they're facing extremely hard choices, specifically if they're remote. I suggest, it's really 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 option than to take this option.MARTIN: Do you expect legal obstacles simply to the deal itself? And fillboards.com if so, on what grounds?BERCOVICI: This offer, to be honest, is so unmatched that I think a lot of us are still trying to find out what to do with it. I'm unsure if the offer itself may be challengeable. I think the bigger concern is the execution of these terms. I'm not familiar with any authority that exists right now for OPM to purchase firms to give this variety of individuals administrative leave. So I believe it is extremely much potentially setting the stage for obstacles since I feel OPM has vastly exceeded their authority.MARTIN: That is Michelle Bercovici. She is an employment lawyer with the Alden Law Group here in Washington, D.C. Thank you so much for signing up with us.BERCOVICI: Thank you a lot for having me here.

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