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

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST: Federal employees have until February 6 to decide whether to voluntarily leave their jobs. The U.S. Office of Personnel Management, OPM, notified workers on Tuesday that if they hand in their resignation by next Thursday – that’s less than a week from now – most will be enabled to take leave and be paid up until completion of September. Michelle Bercovici is an employment attorney who represents federal workers as a large part of her practice, so I asked her for her analysis about what OPM’s deferred resignation program would really mean.MICHELLE BERCOVICI: I actually don’t consider it so much a deal. I think it’s a request to resign with a vague pledge that, potentially, you could be kept in administrative leave status for as much as 8 months – but no guarantees.MARTIN: Some individuals have been using the term buyout to explain what this is because there seems to be the deal of administrative leave for approximately eight months if you take this offer. So is it a buyout?BERCOVICI: I would absolutely not describe it as a buyout. I think that’s a really deceptive term to use in this circumstance. When you think about a buyout, there’s usually some sort of composed contract or a concrete deal to provide an advantage in exchange for waiving certain rights. That is not the case here.MARTIN: If clients ask you for your advice, what are you informing them?BERCOVICI: First thing we inform them is exercise severe caution. There are no assurances contained in this email. The only thing I can tell you for certain is that if you alter your mind, the agency’s probably not going to let you withdraw that resignation, and you are basically offering up control over a lot.MARTIN: Exists some classification of employee who you believe this might benefit? Maybe they’re close to retirement. Is someone like that may this be an attractive offer?BERCOVICI: Folks near retirement require to be the most mindful because leaving earlier than intended can have serious effects, possibly, 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 a bargain for people who don’t desire to go back to the workplace. Let me just play it.(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)KAROLINE LEAVITT: This is a recommendation to federal workers that they need to return in – to work. And if they do not, then they have the alternative to resign, and this administration is very generously offering to pay them for 8 months.MARTIN: You’re shaking your head no.BERCOVICI: referall.us It just – in a method, it breaks my heart that federal workers 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 developed to get folks who work actually difficult to resign. I think it’s attempting to pull the wool over a lot of people’s eyes due to the fact that there are no guarantees. And these are people who love their task. They love the mission of the agency. They work hard. And right now, they’re dealing with extremely difficult options, particularly if they’re remote. I mean, 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 prepare for legal difficulties just to the deal itself? And if so, on what grounds?BERCOVICI: This offer, to be honest, is so unmatched that I think a great deal of us are still attempting to find 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 today for OPM to buy companies to give this variety of leave. So I believe it is extremely much possibly setting the phase for challenges since I feel OPM has actually significantly exceeded 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 signing up with us.BERCOVICI: Thank you so much for having me here.

Copyright © 2025 NPR. All rights scheduled. Visit our website terms of use and consents pages at www.npr.org for additional info.

NPR records are developed on a rush due date by an NPR professional. This text might not be in its last kind and might be updated or modified in the future. Accuracy and accessibility may differ. The reliable record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.