MICHEL MARTIN, HOST: Federal employees have until February 6 to choose whether to willingly leave their jobs. 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 allowed to take leave and be paid up until the end of September. Michelle Bercovici is an employment attorney 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 actually mean.MICHELLE BERCOVICI: I really don’t consider it so much a deal. I think it’s a request to resign with a vague promise that, possibly, you might be kept in administrative leave status for as much as 8 months - however no guarantees.MARTIN: Some individuals have been utilizing the term buyout to describe what this is because there appears to be the offer of administrative leave for approximately 8 months if you take this offer. So is it a buyout?BERCOVICI: I would never describe it as a buyout. I think that’s an extremely misleading term to use in this scenario. When you think about a buyout, there’s usually some sort of written agreement or a concrete offer to offer an advantage in exchange for waiving specific rights. That is not the case here.MARTIN: If clients ask you for your recommendations, what are you informing them?BERCOVICI: First thing we inform them is workout severe care. There are no warranties included in this e-mail. The only thing I can tell you for specific is that if you change your mind, the firm’s most likely not going to let you withdraw that resignation, and you are basically 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 may this be an appealing offer?BERCOVICI: Folks near retirement need to be the most careful due to the fact that leaving earlier than meant can have major repercussions, possibly, on their benefits.MARTIN: Let me simply play a clip from the White House press secretary, [employment](http://mariskamast.net:/smf/index.php?action=profile