MICHEL MARTIN, HOST: Federal staff members have till February 6 to choose whether to willingly 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 enabled to depart and be paid up until the end of September. Michelle Bercovici is an employment legal representative who represents federal workers as a big part of her practice, so I asked her for her interpretation about what OPM's postponed resignation program would actually mean.MICHELLE BERCOVICI: I in fact do not consider it a lot a deal. I think it's a request to resign with a vague pledge that, 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 appears 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 never describe it as a buyout. I think that's a really deceptive term to utilize in this circumstance. When you consider a buyout, there's generally some sort of written arrangement or a concrete offer to supply a benefit in exchange for waiving certain rights. That is not the case here.MARTIN: If customers ask you for your advice, what are you informing them?BERCOVICI: First thing we tell them is exercise extreme caution. 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 agency's probably not going to let you withdraw that resignation, and you are essentially quiting control over a lot.MARTIN: Exists some category 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 need to be the most mindful since leaving earlier than meant can have severe consequences, potentially, on their benefits.MARTIN: Let me simply play a clip from the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt. She informed reporters that this is a bargain for individuals who don't want to return to the workplace. Let me simply 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 offering to pay them for eight months.MARTIN: You're 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 is in bad faith, that it's designed to get folks who work really tough to resign. I think it's attempting to pull the wool over a great deal of people's eyes since there are no assurances. And these are individuals who enjoy their job. They love the objective of the agency. They work hard. And today, they're dealing with extremely tough options, particularly 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 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: employment Do you anticipate legal obstacles simply to the deal itself? And if so, on what grounds?BERCOVICI: This deal, to be truthful, is so unprecedented that I believe a great deal of us are still attempting to determine what to do with it. I'm not sure if the deal itself might be challengeable. I think the bigger concern is the execution of these terms. I'm not knowledgeable about any authority that exists right now for OPM to order firms to offer this variety of individuals administrative leave. So I believe it is quite perhaps setting the phase for obstacles due to the fact that I feel OPM has actually greatly exceeded their authority.MARTIN: That is Michelle Bercovici. She is a work lawyer with the Alden Law Group here in Washington, D.C. Thank you a lot for employment signing up with us.BERCOVICI: Thank you so much for having me here.

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