MICHEL MARTIN, HOST: Federal workers have until February 6 to decide whether to voluntarily 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 take leave and be paid till completion of September. Michelle Bercovici is an employment lawyer who represents federal employees as a big part of her practice, so I asked her for her interpretation about what OPM's postponed resignation program would really mean.MICHELLE BERCOVICI: I in fact do not consider it a lot a deal. I believe it's a request to resign with an unclear guarantee that, possibly, you could be kept in administrative leave status for up to 8 months - but no guarantees.MARTIN: Some people have been utilizing the term buyout to explain what this is due to the fact that there seems to be the deal of administrative leave for approximately eight months if you take this offer. So is it a buyout?BERCOVICI: I would never describe it as a buyout. I believe that's a really misleading term to in this scenario. When you think of a buyout, there's usually some sort of written arrangement or a concrete offer to offer an advantage in exchange for waiving certain rights. That is not the case here.MARTIN: If clients ask you for your guidance, what are you informing them?BERCOVICI: First thing we inform them is workout extreme care. There are no guarantees included in this e-mail. 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 basically offering up control over a lot.MARTIN: Is there some classification of employee who you think this might benefit? Maybe they're close to retirement. Is someone like that may this be an appealing offer?BERCOVICI: Folks near retirement need to be the most cautious because leaving earlier than meant can have severe consequences, potentially, on their benefits.MARTIN: Let me just play a clip from the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt. She informed reporters that this is a bargain for people who do not wish 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 need to return in - to work. And if they don't, then they have the option to resign, and this administration is extremely generously 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 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 created to get folks who work actually hard to resign. I think it's trying to pull the wool over a great deal of individuals's eyes because there are no assurances. And these are people who enjoy their job. They love the mission of the firm. They strive. And today, they're facing very hard options, specifically if they're remote. I imply, it's really coercive.MARTIN: You say it's coercive. Because?BERCOVICI: Essentially, if you're somebody 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 prepare for legal obstacles simply to the deal itself? And if so, on what grounds?BERCOVICI: This offer, to be honest, is so unprecedented that I think a great deal of us are still trying to figure out what to do with it. I'm not exactly sure if the offer itself might 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 order firms to offer this number of individuals administrative leave. So I believe it is quite potentially setting the stage for obstacles since I feel OPM has actually significantly exceeded 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 employment having me here.

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