MICHEL MARTIN, HOST: Federal workers have till February 6 to decide 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 depart and job be paid until completion of September. Michelle Bercovici is a work lawyer who represents federal employees as a large part of her practice, so I asked her for her interpretation about what OPM's deferred resignation program would in fact mean.MICHELLE BERCOVICI: I really don't consider it a lot an offer. I believe it's a demand to resign with an unclear guarantee that, potentially, job you might be kept in administrative leave status for up to eight months - but no guarantees.MARTIN: Some people have been using the term buyout to describe what this is due to the fact that there appears to be the offer 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 very misleading term to use in this scenario. When you think about a buyout, there's usually some sort of written contract or a concrete deal to offer an advantage in exchange for waiving specific rights. That is not the case here.MARTIN: If clients ask you for job your guidance, what are you informing them?BERCOVICI: First thing we tell them is exercise extreme caution. There are no assurances included in this e-mail. 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 basically quiting control over a lot.MARTIN: Exists some category of employee who you think this might benefit? Maybe they're close to retirement. Is someone like that may this be an attractive offer?BERCOVICI: Folks near retirement require to be the most mindful due to the fact that leaving earlier than meant can have serious consequences, possibly, on their .MARTIN: Let me just play a clip from the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt. She told reporters that this is a bargain for individuals who do not desire to return to the workplace. Let me just 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 choice to resign, and this administration is very kindly offering to pay them for eight months.MARTIN: You're shaking 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 out a signal to me that this return-to-office order remains in bad faith, that it's created to get folks who work really tough to resign. I think it's trying to pull the wool over a great deal of individuals's eyes due to the fact that there are no warranties. And these are people who like their job. They love the objective of the firm. They work hard. And right now, they're dealing with extremely hard options, particularly if they're remote. I indicate, it's really coercive.MARTIN: You state 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 prepare for legal difficulties just to the offer itself? And if so, on what grounds?BERCOVICI: This deal, to be honest, is so unprecedented that I believe a lot of us are still attempting to find out what to do with it. I'm uncertain if the deal itself may be challengeable. I believe the bigger question is the execution of these terms. I'm not aware of any authority that exists right now for OPM to order companies to offer this number of people administrative leave. So I believe it is quite perhaps setting the stage for challenges because I feel OPM has actually vastly surpassed their authority.MARTIN: That is Michelle Bercovici. She is a work legal representative with the Alden Law Group here in Washington, D.C. Thank you a lot for joining us.BERCOVICI: Thank you a lot for having me here.

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