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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 employees 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 up until the end of September. Michelle Bercovici is a work legal representative who represents federal staff members as a big part of her practice, so I asked her for her analysis about what OPM's postponed resignation program would actually mean.MICHELLE BERCOVICI: I actually do not consider it so much a deal. I believe it's a demand to resign with a vague promise that, possibly, you could be kept in administrative leave status for up to 8 months - but no guarantees.MARTIN: Some people have actually been utilizing the term buyout to explain what this is since there seems to be the deal of administrative leave for as much as 8 months if you take this offer. So is it a buyout?BERCOVICI: I would never explain it as a buyout. I think that's a really misleading term to utilize in this situation. When you believe of a buyout, there's generally some sort of written contract or a concrete offer to offer a benefit in exchange for waiving specific rights. That is not the case here.MARTIN: If customers ask you for your guidance, what are you informing them?BERCOVICI: First thing we inform them is workout extreme caution. There are no warranties included in this email. The only thing I can inform you for particular is that if you alter 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 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: Folks near retirement need to be the most careful since leaving earlier than intended can have severe repercussions, possibly, on their benefits.MARTIN: Let me simply play a clip from the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt. She informed press reporters that this is an excellent offer for individuals who do not want to go back to the office. Let me it.(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)KAROLINE LEAVITT: This is a tip to federal employees that they need to return in - to work. And if they do not, then they have the option to resign, and this administration is very generously providing to pay them for 8 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 a signal to me that this return-to-office order remains in bad faith, that it's developed to get folks who work truly tough 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 individuals who enjoy their job. They enjoy the objective of the firm. They work hard. And employment right now, they're facing very difficult choices, employment particularly if they're remote. I suggest, it's extremely coercive.MARTIN: You state it's coercive. Because?BERCOVICI: Essentially, employment if you're someone 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 choice than to take this option.MARTIN: Do you expect legal difficulties simply to the offer itself? And if so, on what grounds?BERCOVICI: This deal, to be honest, is so extraordinary that I think a lot of us are still attempting to find out what to do with it. I'm not exactly sure if the deal itself might be challengeable. I think the larger question is the execution of these terms. I'm not knowledgeable about any authority that exists right now for employment OPM to buy firms to provide this number of people administrative leave. So I think it is quite possibly setting the stage for obstacles since I feel OPM has actually vastly exceeded 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 joining us.BERCOVICI: Thank you so much for having me here.

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