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Employment Lawyer Discusses what Trump Offer to Federal Employees to Resign Would Do
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST: employment Federal workers have till February 6 to decide whether to voluntarily 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 depart and be paid until the end of September.
Michelle Bercovici is an employment lawyer who represents federal employees as a large part of her practice, so I asked her for her analysis about what OPM’s delayed resignation program would actually mean.MICHELLE BERCOVICI: I in fact do not consider it so much a deal. I believe it’s a request to resign with a vague promise that, possibly, you might be kept in administrative leave status for approximately 8 months – but no guarantees.MARTIN: Some individuals have actually been using the term buyout to explain what this is because there appears to be the deal of administrative leave for as much as 8 months if you take this deal. So is it a buyout?BERCOVICI: I would never explain it as a buyout. I think that’s an extremely misleading term to use in this circumstance. When you think of a buyout, there’s usually some sort of composed arrangement or a concrete offer to supply a benefit in exchange for waiving certain rights. That is not the case here.MARTIN: employment If clients ask you for your recommendations, what are you telling them?BERCOVICI: First thing we inform them is workout severe care. There are no guarantees included in this e-mail. The only thing I can tell you for particular is that if you change your mind, the firm’s most likely not going to let you withdraw that resignation, employment and you are essentially giving up control over a lot.MARTIN: Exists some category of staff member who you think this might benefit? Maybe they’re close to retirement.
Is somebody like that may this be an attractive offer?BERCOVICI: Folks near retirement require to be the most mindful since leaving earlier than planned can have severe consequences, potentially, on their benefits.MARTIN: Let me just play a clip from the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt. She informed reporters that this is a bargain for people who do not wish to return to the office. Let me just play it.(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)KAROLINE LEAVITT: This is a tip to federal employees 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 8 months.MARTIN: You’re shaking your head no.BERCOVICI: It just – in a manner, 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, that it’s created to get folks who work really hard to resign. I think it’s attempting 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 company. They work hard. And today, they’re facing really tough choices, particularly if they’re remote. I suggest, it’s really coercive.MARTIN: You say 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 choice than to take this option.MARTIN: Do you expect legal obstacles just to the offer itself? And if so, on what grounds?BERCOVICI: This offer, to be truthful, is so unprecedented that I believe a great deal of us are still attempting to find out what to do with it. I’m uncertain if the offer itself might be challengeable. I think the bigger concern is the execution of these terms. I’m not familiar with any authority that exists today for OPM to purchase companies to give this variety of leave. So I think it is extremely much potentially setting the stage for challenges since I feel OPM has vastly exceeded their authority.MARTIN: That is Michelle Bercovici. She is an employment lawyer 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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