MICHEL MARTIN, HOST: Federal workers have up until February 6 to choose whether to willingly leave their jobs. The U.S. Office of Personnel Management, OPM, employment 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 permitted to take leave and be paid up until the end of September. Michelle Bercovici is an employment lawyer who represents federal staff members as a big 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 believe it's a request to resign with a vague pledge that, possibly, you could be kept in administrative leave status for approximately eight months - but no guarantees.MARTIN: Some individuals have actually been utilizing the term buyout to explain what this is since there appears to be the deal 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 very misleading term to utilize in this situation. When you think about a buyout, there's usually some sort of written contract or a concrete offer to offer a benefit 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 exercise severe caution. There are no assurances consisted of in this email. The only thing I can tell you for particular is that if you change your mind, the agency's most likely not going to let you withdraw that resignation, and you are essentially quiting control over a lot.MARTIN: Is there some category of staff member who you think this might benefit? Maybe they're close to retirement. Is someone like that might this be an appealing offer?BERCOVICI: employment Folks near retirement require to be the most mindful due to the fact that leaving earlier than planned can have severe effects, potentially, on their benefits.MARTIN: Let me just play a clip from the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt. She told press reporters that this is an excellent deal for people who do not desire to return to the workplace. Let me simply play it.(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)KAROLINE LEAVITT: This is a suggestion to federal workers that they have to return in - to work. And if they don't, then they have the option to resign, and this administration is really generously using 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 staff members are being jerked around like this. It sends out a signal to me that this return-to-office order remains in bad faith, that it's designed to get folks who work really difficult to resign. I think it's to pull the wool over a lot of people's eyes since there are no warranties. And these are individuals who enjoy their job. They like the mission of the firm. They work hard. And right now, they're dealing with extremely hard choices, specifically if they're remote. I mean, it's extremely coercive.MARTIN: You say it's coercive. Because?BERCOVICI: Essentially, if you're somebody who resides in Oregon and has been told to report to D.C. otherwise we're going to fire you, they might feel that they have no option than to take this option.MARTIN: Do you anticipate legal challenges simply to the deal itself? And if so, on what grounds?BERCOVICI: employment This offer, to be honest, is so extraordinary that I believe a great deal of us are still attempting to figure out what to do with it. I'm not exactly sure 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 agencies to provide this number of individuals administrative leave. So I think it is really much possibly setting the stage for difficulties since I feel OPM has significantly exceeded their authority.MARTIN: That is Michelle Bercovici. She is an employment legal representative with the Alden Law Group here in Washington, D.C. Thank you a lot for signing up with us.BERCOVICI: Thank you so much for having me here.

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