MICHEL MARTIN, HOST: Federal employees have till February 6 to choose whether to voluntarily leave their tasks. The U.S. Office of Personnel Management, OPM, 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 enabled to take leave 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 actually mean.MICHELLE BERCOVICI: I actually do not consider it a lot an offer. I think it's a request to resign with a vague promise that, employment potentially, you could be kept in administrative leave status for approximately eight months - however no guarantees.MARTIN: Some individuals have actually been utilizing the term buyout to explain what this is because there appears to be the offer of administrative leave for approximately eight months if you take this deal. So is it a buyout?BERCOVICI: employment I would never explain it as a buyout. I believe that's a very misleading term to utilize in this situation. When you think about a buyout, there's typically some sort of written contract or a concrete deal to provide an advantage in exchange for waiving certain rights. That is not the case here.MARTIN: If customers ask you for your recommendations, what are you telling them?BERCOVICI: First thing we tell them is exercise severe caution. There are no assurances contained in this email. The only thing I can inform you for particular is that if you change your mind, employment the company's most likely not going to let you withdraw that resignation, and you are basically quiting control over a lot.MARTIN: Is there some classification of staff member who you believe this might benefit? Maybe they're close to retirement. Is somebody like that may this be an attractive offer?BERCOVICI: employment Folks near retirement need to be the most careful due to the fact that leaving earlier than meant can have serious consequences, potentially, on their benefits.MARTIN: employment Let me simply play a clip from the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt. She told press reporters that this is a good deal for individuals 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 employees that they have to return in - to work. And if they don't, then they have the option to resign, and this administration is extremely generously using 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 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 developed to get folks who work actually hard to resign. I think it's attempting to pull the wool over a great deal of people's eyes due to the fact that there are no assurances. And these are people who love their task. They enjoy the objective of the company. They strive. And right now, they're facing really difficult options, particularly if they're remote. I imply, it's extremely coercive.MARTIN: You say it's coercive. Because?BERCOVICI: Essentially, if you're somebody who lives in Oregon and has been informed 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 prepare for legal challenges simply to the deal itself? And if so, on what grounds?BERCOVICI: This deal, to be truthful, is so unprecedented that I believe a lot of us are still attempting to find out what to do with it. I'm unsure if the deal itself may be challengeable. I think the larger question is the execution of these terms. I'm not aware of any authority that exists right now for OPM to purchase companies to give this variety of people administrative leave. So I believe it is quite potentially setting the stage for challenges because I feel OPM has actually greatly 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 up with us.BERCOVICI: Thank you a lot for having me here.

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