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MICHEL MARTIN, HOST: Federal staff members have up until February 6 to choose whether to willingly leave their jobs. The U.S. Office of Personnel Management, OPM, informed workers 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 depart and be paid till completion of September. Michelle Bercovici is an employment lawyer who represents federal workers as a large part of her practice, so I asked her for her interpretation about what OPM's deferred resignation program would actually mean. BERCOVICI: I really do not consider it a lot a deal. I believe it's a demand to resign with a vague pledge that, possibly, you might be kept in administrative leave status for approximately eight months - however no guarantees.MARTIN: Some people have actually been utilizing the term buyout to describe what this is since there seems to be the offer of administrative leave for approximately eight months if you take this deal. So is it a buyout?BERCOVICI: I would definitely not describe it as a buyout. I think that's an extremely misleading term to utilize in this circumstance. When you think about a buyout, there's usually some sort of composed agreement or a concrete offer to supply a benefit in exchange for waiving specific rights. That is not the case here.MARTIN: If clients ask you for your guidance, what are you informing them?BERCOVICI: First thing we inform them is exercise severe care. There are no guarantees consisted of in this e-mail. The only thing I can inform you for certain is that if you alter your mind, the agency's probably not going to let you withdraw that resignation, and you are basically quiting control over a lot.MARTIN: Is there some classification of worker who you believe this might benefit? Maybe they're close to retirement. Is somebody like that might this be an attractive offer?BERCOVICI: Folks near retirement require to be the most cautious because leaving earlier than planned can have major consequences, potentially, on their benefits.MARTIN: Let me just play a clip from the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt. She told press reporters that this is a bargain for individuals who do not 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 don't, employment then they have the choice to resign, and this administration is really generously providing to pay them for eight months.MARTIN: You're shaking your head no.BERCOVICI: It just - in a way, 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 remains in bad faith, that it's developed to get folks who work actually hard to resign. I believe it's attempting to pull the wool over a great deal of people's eyes since there are no assurances. And these are people who like their task. They like the objective of the agency. They work hard. And today, they're facing extremely tough choices, particularly if they're remote. I suggest, it's extremely coercive.MARTIN: You state it's coercive. Because?BERCOVICI: Essentially, if you're somebody who lives 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 choice 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 honest, is so unmatched that I believe a lot of us are still trying to figure out what to do with it. I'm unsure if the deal itself might be challengeable. I think the larger concern is the execution of these terms. I'm not conscious of any authority that exists right now for OPM to buy companies to offer this variety of people administrative leave. So I think it is quite perhaps setting the stage for challenges because I feel OPM has actually vastly surpassed 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 joining us.BERCOVICI: Thank you so much for having me here.

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