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Employment Lawyer Discusses what Trump Offer to Federal Employees to Resign Would Do
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST: Federal employees have until February 6 to choose 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 permitted to depart and be paid until the end 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 analysis about what OPM’s delayed resignation program would in fact mean.MICHELLE BERCOVICI: I in fact do not consider it a lot an offer. I believe it’s a request to resign with a vague pledge that, possibly, you could be kept in administrative leave status for as much as 8 months – however no guarantees.MARTIN: Some individuals have been using the term buyout to explain what this is due to the fact that there seems to be the deal of administrative leave for up to 8 months if you take this offer. So is it a buyout?BERCOVICI: I would never describe it as a buyout. I think that’s a very misleading term to use in this situation. When you believe of a buyout, there’s usually some sort of written arrangement or a concrete deal to provide an advantage in exchange for waiving specific rights. That is not the case here.MARTIN: If clients ask you for your recommendations, what are you telling them?BERCOVICI: First thing we inform them is workout extreme caution.
There are no assurances included in this email. The only thing I can inform 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 giving up control over a lot.MARTIN: Is there some category of staff member who you believe this might benefit? Maybe they’re close to retirement. Is someone like that might this be an attractive offer?BERCOVICI: Folks near retirement need to be the most cautious due to the fact that leaving earlier than meant can have serious repercussions, potentially, on their benefits.MARTIN: Let me simply play a clip from the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt. She told reporters that this is a for people 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 do not, then they have the choice to resign, and this administration is very 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 workers are being jerked around like this. It sends a signal to me that this return-to-office order is in bad faith, referall.us that it’s created to get folks who work really difficult to resign. I believe it’s attempting to pull the wool over a great deal of people’s eyes because there are no guarantees. And these are individuals who like their task. They love the objective of the company. They work hard. And today, they’re facing extremely difficult choices, specifically if they’re remote. I mean, it’s extremely coercive.MARTIN: You say it’s coercive. Because?BERCOVICI: Essentially, if you’re someone 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 option than to take this option.MARTIN: Do you anticipate legal challenges just to the deal itself? And if so, on what grounds?BERCOVICI: This offer, to be truthful, is so extraordinary that I think a great deal of us are still attempting to find out what to do with it. I’m unsure if the deal itself may be challengeable. I believe the larger concern is the execution of these terms. I’m not mindful of any authority that exists today for OPM to order agencies to offer this number of individuals administrative leave. So I believe it is quite potentially setting the phase for challenges since I feel OPM has actually vastly surpassed their authority.MARTIN: That is Michelle Bercovici. She is a work attorney with the Alden Law Group here in Washington, D.C. Thank you so much for joining us.BERCOVICI: Thank you so much for having me here.
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