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

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST: Federal employees have till February 6 to decide whether to voluntarily leave their jobs. The U.S. Office of Personnel Management, OPM, informed workers 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 take leave and be paid till completion of September. Michelle Bercovici is an employment who represents federal workers as a large part of her practice, so I asked her for her interpretation about what OPM’s postponed resignation program would in fact mean.MICHELLE BERCOVICI: I really do not consider it so much an offer. I think it’s a demand referall.us to resign with a vague promise that, possibly, you might be kept in administrative leave status for up to 8 months – however no guarantees.MARTIN: Some people 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 a very misleading term to utilize in this situation. When you consider a buyout, there’s normally some sort of composed agreement or a concrete offer to provide a benefit in exchange for waiving particular rights. That is not the case here.MARTIN: If customers ask you for your recommendations, what are you informing them?BERCOVICI: First thing we inform them is workout extreme care. There are no assurances included in this e-mail. The only thing I can tell 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 basically quiting control over a lot.MARTIN: Exists some category of worker 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 require to be the most mindful since leaving earlier than intended can have serious effects, potentially, on their benefits.MARTIN: Let me simply play a clip from the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt. She informed reporters that this is a bargain for individuals who do not wish to return to the office. Let me simply play it.(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)KAROLINE LEAVITT: This is an idea to federal workers that they need to return in – to work. And if they don’t, then they have the alternative to resign, and this administration is really kindly providing 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 staff members 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 developed to get folks who work truly difficult to resign. I believe it’s trying to pull the wool over a lot of individuals’s eyes since there are no assurances. And these are individuals who enjoy their job. They love the objective of the agency. They strive. And right now, they’re dealing with really difficult options, somalibidders.com especially if they’re remote. I suggest, it’s extremely coercive.MARTIN: You state it’s coercive. Because?BERCOVICI: Essentially, if you’re somebody who resides in Oregon and has been told to report to D.C. or else we’re going to fire you, they might feel that they have no choice than to take this option.MARTIN: Do you anticipate legal obstacles simply to the offer itself? And if so, on what grounds?BERCOVICI: This offer, to be honest, is so unprecedented that I think a great deal of us are still attempting to determine what to do with it. I’m unsure if the deal itself might be challengeable. I believe the larger question is the execution of these terms. I’m not familiar with any authority that exists right now for OPM to purchase agencies to offer this number of people administrative leave. So I believe it is very much perhaps setting the stage for difficulties because I feel OPM has significantly surpassed their authority.MARTIN: That is Michelle Bercovici. She is a work legal representative 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.

Copyright © 2025 NPR. All rights scheduled. Visit our site regards to use and consents pages at www.npr.org for additional details.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush due date by an NPR specialist. This text may not be in its final form and might be upgraded or modified in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The reliable record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.