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1 Employment Lawyer Discusses what Trump Offer to Federal Employees to Resign Would Do

MICHEL MARTIN, job HOST: Federal employees have up until February 6 to choose whether to voluntarily leave their jobs. The U.S. Office of Personnel Management, OPM, notified employees on Tuesday that if they hand job in their resignation by next Thursday - that's less than a week from now - most will be allowed to take leave and be paid until the end of September. Michelle Bercovici is a work 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 actually mean.MICHELLE BERCOVICI: I actually do not consider it a lot a deal. I believe it's a demand to resign with a vague pledge that, potentially, you could be kept in administrative leave status for up to eight months - but no guarantees.MARTIN: Some people have been utilizing the term buyout to describe what this is since there appears to be the deal of administrative leave for as much as eight months if you take this offer. So is it a buyout?BERCOVICI: I would absolutely not explain it as a buyout. I think that's an extremely deceptive term to use in this circumstance. When you think about a buyout, there's usually some sort of composed agreement or a concrete deal to provide a benefit in exchange for waiving particular rights. That is not the case here.MARTIN: If customers ask you for your guidance, job what are you informing them?BERCOVICI: First thing we inform them is workout severe care. There are no warranties consisted of in this email. The only thing I can tell you for specific is that if you change your mind, the company's probably not going to let you withdraw that resignation, and you are essentially offering up control over a lot.MARTIN: Exists some classification of worker who you believe this might benefit? Maybe they're close to retirement. Is somebody like that may this be an appealing offer?BERCOVICI: Folks near retirement require to be the most mindful because leaving earlier than meant can have severe effects, 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 an excellent offer for individuals who don't wish to return to the . Let me just play it.(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)KAROLINE LEAVITT: job This is a suggestion to federal employees that they need to return in - to work. And if they don't, then they have the alternative to resign, and this administration is very generously offering to pay them for 8 months.MARTIN: You're shaking your head no.BERCOVICI: It just - in such a way, it breaks my heart that federal employees are being jerked around like this. It sends a signal to me that this return-to-office order is in bad faith, that it's designed to get folks who work truly tough to resign. I think it's attempting to pull the wool over a great deal of people's eyes due to the fact that there are no assurances. And these are individuals who enjoy their job. They enjoy the objective of the firm. They strive. 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, if you're someone who lives in Oregon and has been informed to report to D.C. or job else we're going to fire you, they might feel that they have no choice than to take this option.MARTIN: Do you expect legal difficulties just to the deal 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 not exactly sure if the offer itself might be challengeable. I believe the bigger concern is the execution of these terms. I'm not familiar with any authority that exists today for OPM to buy agencies to offer this number of people administrative leave. So I think it is very much perhaps setting the phase for obstacles due to the fact that I feel OPM has vastly surpassed their authority.MARTIN: That is Michelle Bercovici. She is an employment attorney with the Alden Law Group here in Washington, D.C. Thank you a lot for joining us.BERCOVICI: Thank you so much for having me here.

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