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MICHEL MARTIN, HOST: Federal employees have until 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 enabled to take leave and be paid until the end of September. Michelle Bercovici is an employment legal representative who represents federal staff members as a large part of her practice, so I asked her for her interpretation about what OPM's postponed resignation program would really mean.MICHELLE BERCOVICI: I in fact don't consider it so much an offer. I think it's a request to resign with an unclear promise that, possibly, you might be kept in administrative leave status for up to eight months - however no guarantees.MARTIN: Some people have been utilizing the term buyout to describe what this is since there appears to be the offer of administrative leave for as much as 8 months if you take this deal. So is it a buyout?BERCOVICI: I would absolutely not describe it as a buyout. I believe that's a very deceptive term to use in this circumstance. When you think about a buyout, there's generally some sort of composed agreement or a concrete deal to offer a benefit in exchange for waiving particular rights. That is not the case here.MARTIN: If customers ask you for your suggestions, what are you telling them?BERCOVICI: First thing we tell them is workout extreme care. There are no assurances contained in this email. 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, and you are basically giving up control over a lot.MARTIN: Is there some classification of staff member who you believe this might benefit? Maybe they're close to retirement. Is someone like that may this be an appealing offer?BERCOVICI: Folks near retirement require to be the most cautious since leaving earlier than intended can have severe repercussions, possibly, on their benefits.MARTIN: employment Let me just play a clip from the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt. She told press reporters that this is an excellent offer for individuals who don't wish to go back to the office. Let me just play 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 don't, 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 simply - in a manner, 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 developed to get folks who work really difficult to resign. I think it's attempting to pull the wool over a great deal of people's eyes because there are no guarantees. And these are people who like their job. They enjoy the mission of the agency. They work hard. And today, they're dealing with extremely hard choices, particularly if they're remote. I indicate, it's extremely coercive.MARTIN: You state it's coercive. Because?BERCOVICI: Essentially, if you're someone who lives in Oregon and has been told to report to D.C. otherwise we're going to fire you, they might feel that they have no option than to take this option.MARTIN: Do you expect legal difficulties just to the offer itself? And if so, on what grounds?BERCOVICI: This deal, to be honest, is so unmatched that I think a great deal of us are still attempting to figure out what to do with it. I'm uncertain if the deal itself may be challengeable. I think the larger concern 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 individuals administrative leave. So I think it is quite perhaps setting the phase for challenges due to the fact that I feel OPM has vastly surpassed 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 so much for signing up with us.BERCOVICI: Thank you so much for having me here.

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