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Employment Lawyer Discusses what Trump Offer to Federal Employees to Resign Would Do
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST: Federal workers have until February 6 to choose whether to willingly leave their jobs. 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 allowed to take leave and be paid till the end of September. Michelle Bercovici is a work legal representative 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 really mean.MICHELLE BERCOVICI: I in fact do not consider it a lot a deal. I believe it’s a request to resign with a vague guarantee that, potentially, you could 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 describe what this is since there seems to be the deal of administrative leave for up to 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 really deceptive term to utilize in this situation. When you think of a buyout, there’s generally some sort of written contract or a concrete deal to provide a benefit in exchange for waiving certain rights. That is not the case here.MARTIN: employment If customers ask you for your recommendations, what are you telling them?BERCOVICI: First thing we tell them is workout extreme care. There are no guarantees included in this e-mail. The only thing I can inform 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: Is there some classification of employee who you think 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 mindful since leaving earlier than intended can have major consequences, potentially, 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 great offer for people who do not desire to return to the office. Let me simply play it.(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)KAROLINE LEAVITT: This is a suggestion to federal workers that they have to return in – to work. And employment if they don’t, then they have the option to resign, employment and this is really kindly providing to pay them for eight months.MARTIN: You’re shaking your head no.BERCOVICI: It simply – in a manner, employment it breaks my heart that federal employees 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 developed to get folks who work truly difficult to resign. I believe it’s trying to pull the wool over a great deal of individuals’s eyes due to the fact that there are no assurances.
And these are individuals who like their job. They like the objective of the firm. They work hard. And today, they’re facing really tough choices, especially if they’re remote. I indicate, it’s extremely coercive.MARTIN: You say it’s coercive. Because?BERCOVICI: Essentially, if you’re someone 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: employment Do you expect legal difficulties simply to the offer itself?
And if so, on what grounds?BERCOVICI: This deal, to be truthful, is so unprecedented that I think a great deal of us are still trying to find out what to do with it. I’m unsure if the offer itself may be challengeable. I think the larger question is the execution of these terms. I’m not aware of any authority that exists today for OPM to buy firms to give this number of individuals administrative leave. So I believe it is quite possibly setting the stage for obstacles due to the fact that I feel OPM has actually greatly 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 signing up with us.BERCOVICI: Thank you so much for having me here.
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