Employment Lawyer Discusses what Trump Offer to Federal Employees to Resign Would Do
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST: Federal workers have up until February 6 to decide whether to willingly leave their tasks. 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 enabled to take leave and be paid until completion 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 postponed resignation program would really mean.MICHELLE BERCOVICI: I actually do not consider it a lot a deal. I think it's a request to resign with a vague guarantee that, possibly, you could be kept in administrative leave status for up to eight months - however no guarantees.MARTIN: Some people have been utilizing the term buyout to explain what this is since there seems to be the offer of administrative leave for approximately eight months if you take this offer. So is it a buyout?BERCOVICI: I would definitely not explain it as a buyout. I believe that's a really misleading term to utilize in this situation. When you think about a buyout, there's typically some sort of composed contract or a concrete deal to supply an advantage in exchange for waiving particular rights. That is not the case here.MARTIN: If customers ask you for your advice, what are you informing them?BERCOVICI: First thing we tell them is exercise severe care. There are no warranties consisted of in this email. The only thing I can tell you for particular is that if you change your mind, the company's probably not going to let you withdraw that resignation, and you are basically providing up control over a lot.MARTIN: Exists some classification of employee who you think this might benefit? Maybe they're close to retirement. Is someone like that may this be an appealing offer?
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST: Federal workers have up until February 6 to decide whether to willingly leave their tasks. 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 enabled to take leave and be paid until completion 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 postponed resignation program would really mean.MICHELLE BERCOVICI: I actually do not consider it a lot a deal. I think it's a request to resign with a vague guarantee that, possibly, you could be kept in administrative leave status for up to eight months - however no guarantees.MARTIN: Some people have been utilizing the term buyout to explain what this is since there seems to be the offer of administrative leave for approximately eight months if you take this offer. So is it a buyout?BERCOVICI: I would definitely not explain it as a buyout. I believe that's a really misleading term to utilize in this situation. When you think about a buyout, there's typically some sort of composed contract or a concrete deal to supply an advantage in exchange for waiving particular rights. That is not the case here.MARTIN: If customers ask you for your advice, what are you informing them?BERCOVICI: First thing we tell them is exercise severe care. There are no warranties consisted of in this email. The only thing I can tell you for particular is that if you change your mind, the company's probably not going to let you withdraw that resignation, and you are basically providing up control over a lot.MARTIN: Exists some classification of employee who you think this might benefit? Maybe they're close to retirement. Is someone like that may this be an appealing offer?