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MICHEL MARTIN, HOST: yogicentral.science 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 completion of September. Michelle Bercovici is a work legal representative who represents federal employees as a big part of her practice, so I asked her for her interpretation about what OPM's postponed resignation program would in fact mean.MICHELLE BERCOVICI: I in fact don't consider it a lot an offer. I think it's a request to resign with an unclear guarantee that, potentially, you could be kept in administrative leave status for up to 8 months - but no guarantees.MARTIN: Some individuals have been utilizing the term buyout to describe what this is since there appears to be the deal of administrative leave for up to eight months if you take this offer. So is it a buyout?BERCOVICI: menwiki.men I would never explain it as a buyout. I believe that's an extremely misleading term to use in this scenario. When you consider a buyout, there's generally some sort of composed agreement or a concrete deal to offer an advantage in exchange for waiving particular rights. That is not the case here.MARTIN: If clients ask you for your advice, what are you telling them?BERCOVICI: scientific-programs.science First thing we inform them is exercise extreme caution. There are no warranties included in this e-mail. The only thing I can inform you for certain is that if you change your mind, the agency's most likely not going to let you withdraw that resignation, and you are up control over a lot.MARTIN: Is there some classification of worker who you think this might benefit? Maybe they're close to retirement. Is somebody like that might this be an appealing offer?BERCOVICI: Folks near retirement need to be the most mindful due to the fact that leaving earlier than planned can have major consequences, possibly, on their benefits.MARTIN: Let me simply play a clip from the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt. She told reporters that this is a bargain for people who don't want to return to the office. 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, then they have the alternative to resign, and this administration is really generously providing to pay them for library.kemu.ac.ke eight months.MARTIN: You're shaking your head no.BERCOVICI: wifidb.science It just - in a manner, 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 really hard to resign. I believe it's attempting to pull the wool over a great deal of people's eyes because there are no assurances. And these are individuals who love their job. They love the mission of the company. They work hard. And right now, they're dealing with really tough choices, particularly if they're remote. I imply, it's really coercive.MARTIN: You state it's coercive. Because?BERCOVICI: Essentially, if you're someone who resides 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 challenges just 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 find out what to do with it. I'm not exactly sure if the offer itself may be challengeable. I think the larger concern is the execution of these terms. I'm not knowledgeable about any authority that exists right now for OPM to purchase firms to offer this number of people administrative leave. So I think it is very much perhaps 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 lawyer 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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