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

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST: Federal staff members have till February 6 to choose whether to voluntarily leave their tasks. 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 allowed to take leave and be paid up until completion of September. Michelle Bercovici is an employment legal representative who represents federal staff members as a large part of her practice, so I asked her for her interpretation about what OPM’s deferred resignation program would actually mean.MICHELLE BERCOVICI: I actually do not consider it so much an offer. I believe it’s a request to resign with a vague pledge that, potentially, you might be kept in administrative leave status for approximately 8 months – but no guarantees.MARTIN: Some individuals have actually been using the term buyout to explain what this is due to the fact that there seems to be the offer of administrative leave for as much as eight months if you take this deal. So is it a buyout?BERCOVICI: I would never it as a buyout. I think that’s a very misleading term to use in this circumstance. When you think of a buyout, there’s generally some sort of written contract or a concrete offer to provide an advantage in exchange for waiving specific rights. That is not the case here.MARTIN: If clients ask you for your recommendations, what are you informing them?BERCOVICI: First thing we tell them is workout severe care. There are no guarantees included in this email. The only thing I can inform you for certain is that if you change your mind, employment the firm’s probably not going to let you withdraw that resignation, and you are essentially offering up control over a lot.MARTIN: Is there some category of employee who you think this might benefit? Maybe they’re close to retirement. Is someone like that might this be an attractive offer?BERCOVICI: Folks near retirement need to be the most cautious since leaving earlier than meant can have major consequences, 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 good offer for individuals who don’t 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 do not, then they have the alternative to resign, and this administration is very generously providing to pay them for eight months.MARTIN: You’re shaking your head no.BERCOVICI: It simply – in a method, 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 developed to get folks who work actually difficult to resign. I believe it’s trying to pull the wool over a great deal of people’s eyes since there are no guarantees. And employment these are individuals who enjoy their job. They enjoy the mission of the agency. They strive. And right now, they’re dealing with really hard choices, particularly if they’re remote. I suggest, it’s extremely coercive.MARTIN: You state it’s coercive. Because?BERCOVICI: Essentially, if you’re someone 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 choice than to take this option.MARTIN: Do you expect legal challenges just 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 uncertain if the deal itself may be challengeable. I believe the larger question is the execution of these terms. I’m not mindful of any authority that exists today for OPM to buy firms to give this variety of individuals administrative leave. So I believe it is really much potentially setting the stage for obstacles due to the fact that I feel OPM has actually vastly 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 employment signing up with us.BERCOVICI: Thank you a lot for having me here.

Copyright © 2025 NPR. All rights booked. Visit our website regards to usage and authorizations pages at www.npr.org for additional information.

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