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MICHEL MARTIN, employment HOST: Federal staff members have until February 6 to choose whether to willingly leave their tasks. The U.S. Office of Personnel Management, OPM, notified employees on Tuesday that if they hand in their resignation by next Thursday - that's less than a week from now - most will be to depart and be paid until completion of September. Michelle Bercovici is an employment attorney who represents federal staff members as a big part of her practice, so I asked her for her analysis about what OPM's delayed resignation program would in fact mean.MICHELLE BERCOVICI: I really do not consider it a lot an offer. I think it's a request to resign with an unclear guarantee that, employment possibly, you could be kept in administrative leave status for as much as 8 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 eight months if you take this offer. So is it a buyout?BERCOVICI: I would absolutely not explain it as a buyout. I think that's an extremely deceptive term to utilize in this scenario. When you believe of a buyout, there's normally some sort of composed agreement or a concrete offer to offer an advantage in exchange for waiving specific rights. That is not the case here.MARTIN: If customers ask you for your advice, what are you telling them?BERCOVICI: First thing we inform them is exercise severe caution. There are no warranties contained in this email. 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 essentially quiting control over a lot.MARTIN: Exists some classification of employee who you believe this might benefit? Maybe they're close to retirement. Is somebody like that might this be an attractive offer?BERCOVICI: Folks near retirement need to be the most careful since leaving earlier than planned can have major effects, possibly, on their benefits.MARTIN: employment Let me just play a clip from the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt. She informed reporters that this is a good offer for individuals who do not wish to go back to the office. Let me simply play it.(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)KAROLINE LEAVITT: This is a recommendation 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 very kindly providing to pay them for 8 months.MARTIN: You're shaking your head no.BERCOVICI: It simply - in such a way, it breaks my heart that federal workers are being jerked around like this. It sends out a signal to me that this return-to-office order remains in bad faith, employment that it's designed to get folks who work truly tough to resign. I believe it's trying to pull the wool over a great deal of individuals's eyes due to the fact that there are no guarantees. And these are people who like their job. They love the objective of the company. They work hard. And right now, they're facing extremely hard options, particularly if they're remote. I mean, it's extremely coercive.MARTIN: You say it's coercive. Because?BERCOVICI: Essentially, if you're somebody who resides in Oregon and has been told to report to D.C. or else we're going to fire you, they might feel that they have no option than to take this option.MARTIN: Do you anticipate legal difficulties 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 uncertain if the deal itself may be challengeable. I think the bigger concern is the execution of these terms. I'm not conscious of any authority that exists today for OPM to buy firms to offer this variety of individuals administrative leave. So I think it is quite potentially setting the stage for difficulties due to the fact that I feel OPM has actually significantly exceeded 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 joining us.BERCOVICI: employment Thank you so much for having me here.

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