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 voluntarily leave their tasks. The U.S. Office of Personnel Management, OPM, employment notified 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 a work attorney who represents federal staff members as a big 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 don’t consider it a lot a deal. I think it’s a demand to resign with a vague guarantee that, potentially, you might be kept in administrative leave status for approximately 8 months – however no guarantees.MARTIN: Some individuals have actually been using the term buyout to explain what this is because there seems to be the offer of administrative leave for approximately eight months if you take this offer. So is it a buyout?BERCOVICI: I would never explain it as a buyout. I think that’s a really misleading term to utilize in this situation. When you think about a buyout, there’s normally 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 clients ask you for your suggestions, what are you telling them?BERCOVICI: First thing we inform them is exercise severe caution. There are no warranties included in this e-mail. The only thing I can inform you for specific is that if you alter your mind, the agency’s probably not going to let you withdraw that resignation, and you are essentially quiting control over a lot.MARTIN: Exists some category of worker 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 require to be the most careful due to the fact that leaving earlier than planned can have major consequences, possibly, on their benefits.MARTIN: Let me just play a clip from the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt. She told reporters that this is a great offer for people who don’t desire to go back to the workplace. Let me simply play it.(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)KAROLINE LEAVITT: This is a tip to federal employees that they need to return in – to work. And if they don’t, then they have the option to resign, and this administration is extremely kindly using to pay them for 8 months.MARTIN: employment 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 a signal to me that this return-to-office order is in bad faith, that it’s created to get folks who work actually hard to resign. I believe it’s trying to pull the wool over a great deal of individuals’s eyes since there are no assurances. And these are people who like their job. They love the mission of the company. They strive. And today, they’re dealing with really hard choices, specifically if they’re remote. I mean, it’s very coercive.MARTIN: You state it’s coercive. Because?BERCOVICI: Essentially, if you’re somebody who lives in Oregon and has been informed 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: Do you for legal obstacles simply to the offer itself? And if so, on what grounds?BERCOVICI: This offer, to be sincere, is so extraordinary that I believe a lot of us are still trying to figure out what to do with it. I’m unsure if the deal itself might be challengeable. I believe the larger concern is the execution of these terms. I’m not conscious of any authority that exists right now for OPM to buy agencies to give this variety of individuals administrative leave. So I think it is quite possibly setting the stage for obstacles because I feel OPM has vastly surpassed their authority.MARTIN: That is Michelle Bercovici. She is an employment lawyer with the Alden Law Group here in Washington, D.C. Thank you so much for joining us.BERCOVICI: Thank you a lot for employment having me here.

Copyright © 2025 NPR. All rights booked. Visit our website regards to use and authorizations pages at www.npr.org for more info.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush due date by an NPR professional. This text may not remain in its last type and may be upgraded or modified in the future. Accuracy and accessibility might differ. The authoritative record of NPR’s shows is the audio record.