MICHEL MARTIN, HOST: Federal workers have till February 6 to decide whether to willingly leave their jobs. The U.S. Office of Personnel Management, OPM, notified employees 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 up until the end of September. Michelle Bercovici is a work legal representative who represents federal workers as a large part of her practice, so I asked her for her analysis about what OPM's postponed resignation program would really mean.MICHELLE BERCOVICI: I actually don't consider it a lot a deal. I believe it's a request to resign with a vague guarantee that, potentially, you might be kept in administrative leave status for job approximately 8 months - but no guarantees.MARTIN: Some individuals have actually been using the term buyout to explain what this is due to the fact that there appears to be the deal of administrative leave for up to eight months if you take this offer. So is it a buyout?BERCOVICI: I would definitely not explain it as a buyout. I believe that's a very misleading term to utilize in this situation. When you think of a buyout, there's usually some sort of composed arrangement or a concrete deal to supply 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 telling them?BERCOVICI: First thing we inform them is exercise extreme caution. There are no in this e-mail. The only thing I can tell you for certain is that if you change 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 category of worker 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 cautious because leaving earlier than planned can have serious effects, possibly, on their benefits.MARTIN: Let me just play a clip from the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt. She informed reporters that this is an excellent deal for individuals who don't desire to return to the workplace. Let me simply play it.(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)KAROLINE LEAVITT: This is an idea to federal workers that they have to return in - to work. And if they don't, then they have the option to resign, and job this administration is really generously providing to pay them for eight months.MARTIN: You're shaking your head no.BERCOVICI: It simply - in such a way, it breaks my heart that federal employees 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 actually hard to resign. I think it's trying to pull the wool over a great deal of people's eyes since there are no guarantees. And these are individuals who love their job. They enjoy the objective of the firm. They work hard. And right now, they're facing very tough choices, especially if they're remote. I mean, job it's very coercive.MARTIN: You say it's coercive. Because?BERCOVICI: Essentially, if you're somebody who resides in Oregon and 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 expect legal obstacles simply to the offer itself? And if so, on what grounds?BERCOVICI: This deal, to be truthful, is so extraordinary that I believe a great deal of us are still trying to find out what to do with it. I'm not exactly sure if the deal itself may be challengeable. I believe the bigger concern is the execution of these terms. I'm not familiar with any authority that exists right now for OPM to order agencies to provide this number of individuals administrative leave. So I think it is quite perhaps setting the phase for obstacles because I feel OPM has actually significantly 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 so much for joining us.BERCOVICI: Thank you a lot for having me here.

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