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

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST: Federal employees have up 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 depart and be paid till completion of September. Michelle Bercovici is an employment legal representative who represents federal employees as a large part of her practice, so I asked her for her interpretation about what OPM’s delayed resignation program would really mean.MICHELLE BERCOVICI: I in fact don’t consider it a lot a deal. I think it’s a request to resign with an unclear promise that, employment potentially, you might be kept in administrative leave status for as much as 8 months – however no guarantees.MARTIN: Some people have actually been using the term buyout to describe what this is due to the fact that there appears 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 very misleading term to utilize in this scenario. When you think about a buyout, there’s normally some sort of composed agreement or employment a concrete offer to provide an advantage in exchange for waiving particular rights. That is not the case here.MARTIN: If customers ask you for your guidance, what are you informing them?BERCOVICI: First thing we tell them is exercise extreme care. There are no warranties contained in this email. The only thing I can inform you for employment specific is that if you alter your mind, the firm’s probably not going to let you withdraw that resignation, and you are essentially offering up control over a lot.MARTIN: Exists some classification of employee who you think this might benefit? Maybe they’re close to retirement. Is someone like that may 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, employment possibly, on their benefits.MARTIN: Let me just play a clip from the White House press secretary, employment Karoline Leavitt. She informed press reporters that this is a bargain for people who do not want to go back to the office. Let me simply play it.(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)KAROLINE LEAVITT: This is an idea to federal employees that they need to return in – to work. And if they do not, then they have the alternative to resign, and this administration is really generously providing to pay them for 8 months.MARTIN: You’re shaking your head no.BERCOVICI: It simply – in such a way, it breaks my heart that federal staff members 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 hard to resign. I think it’s to pull the wool over a lot of individuals’s eyes due to the fact that there are no assurances. And these are individuals who love their task. They enjoy the mission of the company. They work hard. And today, they’re facing really hard choices, specifically if they’re remote. I indicate, it’s extremely coercive.MARTIN: You state it’s coercive. Because?BERCOVICI: Essentially, if you’re someone who resides 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 choice than to take this option.MARTIN: Do you anticipate legal challenges just to the deal itself? And if so, on what grounds?BERCOVICI: This offer, to be sincere, is so extraordinary that I believe a great deal of us are still trying to find out what to do with it. I’m not exactly sure if the offer itself may be challengeable. I think the bigger concern is the execution of these terms. I’m not mindful of any authority that exists today for OPM to order companies to offer this number of people administrative leave. So I believe it is quite potentially setting the stage for obstacles due to the fact that 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 signing up with us.BERCOVICI: Thank you so much for having me here.

Copyright © 2025 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our site terms of use and approvals pages at www.npr.org for additional information.

NPR records are created on a rush due date by an NPR contractor. This text might not be in its last kind and might be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and schedule may differ. The reliable record of NPR’s programs is the audio record.