Projobs

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

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST: Federal staff members have up 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 permitted to depart and be paid till completion of September. Michelle Bercovici is an employment lawyer who represents federal workers as a big part of her practice, so I asked her for her interpretation about what OPM’s postponed resignation program would actually mean.MICHELLE BERCOVICI: I in fact don’t consider it a lot an offer. I think it’s a demand to resign with a vague guarantee that, potentially, you could be kept in administrative leave status for up to 8 months – but no guarantees.MARTIN: Some people have actually been utilizing the to describe what this is because there appears to be the offer of administrative leave for up to 8 months if you take this deal. So is it a buyout?BERCOVICI: employment I would definitely not describe it as a buyout. I think that’s an extremely misleading term to utilize in this situation. When you think about a buyout, there’s generally some sort of composed contract or a concrete deal to offer an advantage in exchange for waiving specific rights. That is not the case here.MARTIN: If customers ask you for employment your advice, what are you telling them?BERCOVICI: First thing we tell them is exercise severe caution. There are no guarantees included in this e-mail. The only thing I can tell you for employment certain is that if you change your mind, the agency’s probably not going to let you withdraw that resignation, and you are basically quiting control over a lot.MARTIN: Exists some category of staff member who you believe this might benefit? Maybe they’re close to retirement. Is somebody like that might this be an attractive offer?BERCOVICI: Folks near retirement need to be the most careful due to the fact that leaving earlier than planned can have severe repercussions, potentially, on their benefits.MARTIN: Let me simply play a clip from the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt. She told press reporters that this is an excellent deal for individuals who do not wish to go back to the workplace. Let me just play it.(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)KAROLINE LEAVITT: This is an idea 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 extremely generously using to pay them for eight months.MARTIN: You’re shaking your head no.BERCOVICI: It simply – in a manner, 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 is in bad faith, that it’s designed to get folks who work really difficult to resign. I think it’s trying to pull the wool over a great deal of individuals’s eyes because there are no warranties. And these are individuals who enjoy their job. They like the objective of the agency. They work hard. And today, they’re dealing with really tough choices, specifically if they’re remote. I indicate, it’s really coercive.MARTIN: You state it’s coercive. Because?BERCOVICI: Essentially, if you’re someone who resides in Oregon and employment has been told to report to D.C. or else we’re going to fire you, they might feel that they have no option than to take this option.MARTIN: Do you anticipate legal difficulties just to the deal itself? And if so, on what grounds?BERCOVICI: This deal, to be sincere, is so unmatched that I think a great deal of us are still attempting to figure out what to do with it. I’m not sure if the offer itself may be challengeable. I believe the bigger concern is the execution of these terms. I’m not familiar with any authority that exists right now for OPM to order firms to offer this number of people administrative leave. So I think it is really much perhaps setting the stage for difficulties due to the fact that I feel OPM has actually 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 so much for joining us.BERCOVICI: employment Thank you a lot for having me here.

Copyright © 2025 NPR. All rights booked. Visit our site terms of use and approvals pages at www.npr.org for more info.

NPR records are produced on a rush due date by an NPR contractor. This text might not be in its final kind and may be upgraded or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability might differ. The reliable record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.