MICHEL MARTIN, HOST: Federal employees have until February 6 to choose whether to willingly leave their tasks. The U.S. Office of Personnel Management, OPM, employment notified workers on Tuesday that if they hand employment in their resignation by next Thursday - that's less than a week from now - most will be allowed to take leave and be paid until the end of September. Michelle Bercovici is a work lawyer who represents federal workers as a big part of her practice, so I asked her for her analysis about what OPM's delayed resignation program would in fact mean.MICHELLE BERCOVICI: I in fact do not consider it a lot an offer. I think it's a demand to resign with a vague pledge that, possibly, you might be kept in administrative leave status for approximately eight months - but no guarantees.MARTIN: Some individuals have been utilizing the term buyout to describe what this is due to the fact that there appears to be the offer of administrative leave for up to eight months if you take this deal. So is it a buyout?BERCOVICI: I would definitely not explain it as a buyout. I believe that's an extremely deceptive term to use in this situation. When you think about a buyout, there's typically some sort of composed agreement or a concrete deal to offer an advantage in exchange for waiving particular 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 workout severe caution. There are no guarantees contained in this e-mail. The only thing I can inform you for certain is that if you change your mind, the agency's probably not going to let you withdraw that resignation, and you are essentially providing up control over a lot.MARTIN: Is there some category of worker who you believe this might benefit? Maybe they're close to retirement. Is somebody like that might this be an ?BERCOVICI: Folks near retirement require to be the most careful because leaving earlier than planned can have severe consequences, possibly, on their benefits.MARTIN: Let me simply play a clip from the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt. She told reporters that this is a good offer for people who do not wish to return to the office. 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 do not, then they have the choice to resign, and this administration is extremely kindly providing to pay them for eight months.MARTIN: You're shaking your head no.BERCOVICI: It simply - in a manner, 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 created to get folks who work actually tough to resign. I think it's attempting to pull the wool over a lot of people's eyes since there are no warranties. And employment these are people who love their task. They enjoy the objective of the agency. They strive. And today, they're facing extremely hard choices, especially if they're remote. I indicate, it's very 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. 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 difficulties just to the deal itself? And if so, on what grounds?BERCOVICI: This offer, to be sincere, is so unprecedented that I believe a lot of us are still trying to determine what to do with it. I'm not sure if the offer itself might be challengeable. I believe the larger question is the execution of these terms. I'm not knowledgeable about any authority that exists today for OPM to purchase agencies to give this number of people administrative leave. So I believe it is quite perhaps setting the stage for difficulties because I feel OPM has actually vastly exceeded their authority.MARTIN: That is Michelle Bercovici. She is an employment lawyer with the Alden Law Group here in Washington, D.C. Thank you a lot for joining us.BERCOVICI: Thank you so much for having me here.

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