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MICHEL MARTIN, HOST: Federal employees have till February 6 to choose whether to voluntarily 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 permitted to take leave and be paid till 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 employment her interpretation about what OPM's delayed resignation program would really mean.MICHELLE BERCOVICI: I in fact don't consider it a lot an offer. I believe it's a request to resign with a vague promise that, potentially, employment you might be kept in administrative leave status for approximately eight months - but no guarantees.MARTIN: Some people have actually been utilizing the term buyout to describe what this is due to the fact that there appears to be the offer of for as much as eight months if you take this offer. So is it a buyout?BERCOVICI: I would absolutely not describe it as a buyout. I believe that's a very misleading term to utilize in this situation. When you think about a buyout, there's generally some sort of composed arrangement or a concrete offer to offer an advantage in exchange for waiving particular rights. That is not the case here.MARTIN: If customers ask you for your guidance, what are you telling them?BERCOVICI: First thing we inform them is exercise severe caution. There are no warranties contained in this e-mail. The only thing I can inform you for particular is that if you change your mind, the company's probably not going to let you withdraw that resignation, employment and you are basically offering up control over a lot.MARTIN: Is there some classification of employee who you think this might benefit? Maybe they're close to retirement. Is someone like that might this be an attractive offer?BERCOVICI: Folks near retirement need to be the most mindful since leaving earlier than meant can have serious repercussions, potentially, on their benefits.MARTIN: Let me just play a clip from the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt. She informed reporters that this is a good offer for people who do not desire to go back to the workplace. Let me simply play it.(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)KAROLINE LEAVITT: This is a tip to federal workers that they have to return in - to work. And if they do not, then they have the choice to resign, and this administration is really generously providing to pay them for 8 months.MARTIN: You're shaking your head no.BERCOVICI: It just - in such 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 trying to pull the wool over a great deal of individuals's eyes since there are no assurances. And these are individuals who enjoy their task. They love the objective of the firm. They work hard. And today, they're dealing with extremely tough options, especially if they're remote. I indicate, it's very coercive.MARTIN: You say it's coercive. Because?BERCOVICI: employment 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 expect legal challenges just to the deal itself? And if so, on what grounds?BERCOVICI: This offer, to be truthful, is so unmatched that I believe a lot of us are still attempting to figure out what to do with it. I'm not sure if the offer itself may be challengeable. I think the bigger question is the execution of these terms. I'm not mindful of any authority that exists today for OPM to order firms to give this variety of individuals administrative leave. So I believe it is quite possibly setting the phase for challenges due to the fact that I feel OPM has actually significantly surpassed 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 a lot for having me here.

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