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Employment Lawyer Discusses what Trump Offer to Federal Employees to Resign Would Do
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST: Federal staff members have till February 6 to choose whether to voluntarily 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 enabled to depart and be paid up until completion of September.
Michelle Bercovici is an employment legal representative who represents federal employees as a big part of her practice, so I asked her for her interpretation about what OPM’s deferred resignation program would really mean.MICHELLE BERCOVICI: I in fact do not consider it so much a deal. I believe it’s a request to resign with an unclear guarantee that, possibly, you could be kept in administrative leave status for as much as 8 months – but no guarantees.MARTIN: Some people have been utilizing the term buyout to describe what this is because there seems to be the deal of administrative leave for approximately 8 months if you take this deal. So is it a buyout?BERCOVICI: I would never explain it as a buyout. I believe that’s an extremely deceptive term to utilize in this situation. When you consider a buyout, there’s generally some sort of written arrangement or a concrete deal to provide a benefit in exchange for waiving certain rights. That is not the case here.MARTIN: If clients ask you for your recommendations, employment what are you informing them?BERCOVICI: First thing we inform them is exercise severe caution. There are no assurances consisted of in this e-mail. The only thing I can tell you for particular is that if you alter your mind, employment 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 worker who you believe this might benefit? Maybe they’re close to retirement. Is someone like that may this be an attractive offer?BERCOVICI: Folks near retirement need to be the most cautious since leaving earlier than intended can have serious effects, possibly, on their benefits.MARTIN: Let me just play a clip from the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt. She informed press reporters that this is a bargain for people who don’t want to return to the workplace. Let me just play it.(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)KAROLINE LEAVITT: This is an idea to federal employees that they need to return in – to work. And if they do not, then they have the alternative to resign, and this administration is really kindly providing to pay them for eight months.MARTIN: You’re shaking your head no.BERCOVICI: It just – in a method, 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 remains in bad faith, that it’s to get folks who work actually hard to resign. I think it’s trying to pull the wool over a great deal of people’s eyes because there are no guarantees. And these are individuals who enjoy their job. They enjoy the mission of the firm. They strive. And today, they’re dealing with really difficult choices, specifically if they’re remote. I indicate, it’s really coercive.MARTIN: You state it’s coercive. Because?BERCOVICI: Essentially, if you’re somebody who lives in Oregon and employment has been told to report to D.C. otherwise we’re going to fire you, they might feel that they have no choice than to take this option.MARTIN: Do you expect legal challenges simply to the offer itself? And if so, on what grounds?BERCOVICI: This offer, to be sincere, is so unprecedented that I believe a great deal of us are still trying to figure out what to do with it. I’m not sure if the offer itself may be challengeable. I believe the larger question is the execution of these terms. I’m not mindful of any authority that exists right now for OPM to buy companies to give this number of individuals administrative leave. So I believe it is really much potentially setting the phase for challenges because I feel OPM has greatly 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 joining us.BERCOVICI: Thank you a lot for having me here.
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