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MICHEL MARTIN, HOST: Federal staff members have up until February 6 to decide whether to voluntarily leave their jobs. The U.S. Office of Personnel Management, job 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 the end of September. Michelle Bercovici is an employment attorney who represents federal workers as a large 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 actually do not consider it so much a deal. I believe it's a request to resign with a vague guarantee that, potentially, you might be kept in administrative leave status for approximately 8 months - however no guarantees.MARTIN: Some people have actually been utilizing the term buyout to explain what this is since there seems 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 never describe it as a buyout. I believe that's a very deceptive term to utilize in this situation. When you believe of a buyout, there's typically some sort of written agreement or a concrete offer to provide 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 telling them?BERCOVICI: First thing we inform them is exercise severe caution. There are no warranties consisted of in this e-mail. The only thing I can tell you for job particular is that if you change your mind, the agency's most likely not going to let you withdraw that resignation, and you are essentially quiting control over a lot.MARTIN: Is there some classification of worker who you think this might benefit? Maybe they're close to retirement. Is somebody like that may this be an attractive offer?BERCOVICI: Folks near retirement require to be the most careful due to the fact that leaving earlier than meant can have serious effects, possibly, on their benefits.MARTIN: Let me simply play a clip from the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt. She informed reporters that this is a bargain for people who don't wish to go back to the workplace. 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 don't, then they have the option to resign, and this administration is extremely kindly offering 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 out a signal to me that this return-to-office order remains in bad faith, that it's designed to get folks who work actually tough to resign. I think it's attempting to pull the wool over a great deal of individuals's eyes since there are no guarantees. And these are people who like their job. They like the objective of the company. They strive. And right now, they're dealing with very tough options, especially if they're remote. I imply, it's extremely coercive.MARTIN: You state it's coercive. Because?BERCOVICI: Essentially, if you're someone who resides in Oregon and has been told 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 offer itself? And if so, on what grounds?BERCOVICI: This offer, to be sincere, is so extraordinary that I think a great deal of us are still trying to figure out what to do with it. I'm uncertain if the offer itself may be challengeable. I think the larger question is the execution of these terms. I'm not familiar with any authority that exists right now for OPM to buy agencies to give this variety of people administrative leave. So I think it is quite potentially setting the phase for obstacles due to the fact that I feel OPM has actually greatly exceeded their authority.MARTIN: That is Michelle Bercovici. She is an employment legal representative with the Alden Law Group here in Washington, D.C. Thank you a lot for joining us.BERCOVICI: Thank you a lot for having me here.

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