MICHEL MARTIN, HOST: Federal workers have till February 6 to choose whether to willingly leave their tasks. The U.S. Office of Personnel Management, OPM, informed employees 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 until completion of September. Michelle Bercovici is an employment lawyer who represents federal staff members as a large part of her practice, so I asked her for her analysis about what OPM's postponed resignation program would actually mean. BERCOVICI: I actually do not consider it so much a deal. I believe it's a demand to resign with an unclear pledge that, potentially, you might be kept in administrative leave status for as much as 8 months - however no guarantees.MARTIN: Some people have actually been using the term buyout to explain what this is since there seems to be the deal of administrative leave for approximately eight months if you take this deal. So is it a buyout?BERCOVICI: I would definitely not explain it as a buyout. I believe that's a really deceptive term to utilize in this circumstance. When you think of a buyout, there's typically some sort of written arrangement or a concrete deal to supply a benefit in exchange for waiving specific rights. That is not the case here.MARTIN: If customers ask you for your recommendations, what are you telling them?BERCOVICI: First thing we tell them is exercise extreme care. There are no warranties included in this email. The only thing I can tell you for particular is that if you alter your mind, the firm's probably not going to let you withdraw that resignation, and you are essentially giving up control over a lot.MARTIN: Exists some classification of worker who you think this might benefit? Maybe they're close to retirement. Is somebody like that may this be an attractive offer?BERCOVICI: Folks near retirement require to be the most careful since leaving earlier than meant can have major effects, possibly, 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 a bargain for people who do not want to go back to the workplace. Let me just play it.(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)KAROLINE LEAVITT: This is an idea to federal employees that they have to return in - to work. And if they don't, then they have the choice to resign, and this administration is really kindly using 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 staff members are being jerked around like this. It sends a signal to me that this return-to-office order remains in bad faith, that it's designed to get folks who work actually tough to resign. I think it's attempting to pull the wool over a great deal of individuals's eyes since there are no guarantees. And these are people who like their task. They enjoy the mission of the firm. They work hard. And today, they're dealing with extremely hard choices, specifically if they're remote. I imply, it's really coercive.MARTIN: You say it's coercive. Because?BERCOVICI: Essentially, employment if you're somebody who lives 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 prepare for legal obstacles simply to the offer itself? And if so, on what grounds?BERCOVICI: This offer, to be honest, is so extraordinary that I believe a great deal of us are still attempting to find out what to do with it. I'm not sure if the offer itself may be challengeable. I think the larger concern is the execution of these terms. I'm not knowledgeable about any authority that exists today for OPM to purchase firms to provide this variety of individuals administrative leave. So I think it is quite potentially setting the phase for challenges due to the fact that I feel OPM has actually significantly surpassed 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 signing up with us.BERCOVICI: Thank you a lot for having me here.

Copyright © 2025 NPR. All rights booked. Visit our site terms of usage and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further info.

NPR transcripts are produced on a rush due date by an NPR professional. This text might not be in its final kind and might be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and schedule may differ. The reliable record of NPR's programming is the audio record.