MICHEL MARTIN, HOST: Federal staff members have until February 6 to decide whether to willingly leave their jobs. The U.S. Office of Personnel Management, OPM, notified employees on Tuesday that if they hand wiki.eqoarevival.com in their resignation by next Thursday - that's less than a week from now - most will be allowed to depart and be paid up until the end of September. Michelle Bercovici is a work attorney who represents federal staff members as a large part of her practice, so I asked her for her analysis about what OPM's delayed resignation program would really mean.MICHELLE BERCOVICI: akropolistravel.com I really do not consider it a lot an offer. I think it's a request to resign with a vague pledge that, potentially, you might be kept in administrative leave status for as much as 8 months - however no guarantees.MARTIN: Some individuals have been utilizing the term buyout to describe what this is due to the fact that there seems to be the deal of administrative leave for gratisafhalen.be as much as 8 months if you take this deal. So is it a buyout?BERCOVICI: I would never describe it as a buyout. I think that's a very deceptive term to utilize in this circumstance. When you think about a buyout, there's normally some sort of written arrangement or a concrete offer to offer an advantage in exchange for waiving specific rights. That is not the case here.MARTIN: If customers ask you for your advice, what are you telling them?BERCOVICI: First thing we tell them is exercise extreme caution. There are no warranties contained in this email. The only thing I can inform you for specific is that if you alter your mind, 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 category of employee who you believe this might benefit? Maybe they're close to retirement. Is someone like that might this be an appealing offer?BERCOVICI: Folks near retirement need to be the most mindful due to the fact that leaving earlier than meant can have severe consequences, possibly, on their benefits.MARTIN: Let me just play a clip from the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt. She informed reporters that this is a great deal for people who don't wish to return to the office. Let me simply play it.(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)KAROLINE LEAVITT: This is a recommendation 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 very kindly providing to pay them for eight months.MARTIN: You're shaking your head no.BERCOVICI: It just - in a manner, 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 designed to get folks who work really tough to resign. I think it's trying to pull the wool over a lot of individuals's eyes since there are no assurances. And these are people who enjoy their task. They enjoy the objective of the agency. They work hard. And right now, they're facing very hard options, particularly if they're remote. I mean, it's extremely 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 option than to take this option.MARTIN: Do you anticipate legal obstacles simply to the deal itself? And if so, on what grounds?BERCOVICI: This deal, to be truthful, is so unmatched that I think a lot of us are still trying to find out what to do with it. I'm unsure if the offer itself might be challengeable. I think the larger concern is the execution of these terms. I'm not conscious of any authority that exists today for OPM to order agencies to give this number of people administrative leave. So I believe it is quite potentially setting the phase for challenges due to the fact that I feel OPM has actually greatly surpassed their authority.MARTIN: That is Michelle Bercovici. She is an employment attorney with the Alden Law Group here in Washington, D.C. Thank you a lot for signing up with us.BERCOVICI: Thank you a lot for having me here.

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