WASHINGTON, D.C. (MarketWatch) — The White House is giving federal workers around a week to consider an offer to resign and get paid for months, but some advice is quickly shaping for workers who are mulling the deal.
It ought to be a hard pass — at least until many more questions are answered, according to employment lawyers, financial advisers and federal employee unions.
There are too many unknowns about the offer’s terms for workers, the Trump administration’s power to float the offer and whether the money will even be there for payouts, which are supposed to go through September.
“Overall and generally speaking, no, I don’t see this a good deal,” said Menaka Fernando, a partner at Outten & Golden.
The San Francisco-based lawyer has represented many executives and tech-sector workers in their exits, and seen many buyout offers from companies. What’s known so far about the Trump administration’s offer to federal workers doesn’t come close to the upfront details and designs typically seen in the private sector, she said. That includes stipulations about lump sums, bonuses and retirement accounts.
One clear difference is that federal workers are getting much less time to make up their mind, she said. The Trump administration’s offer — delivered in an email with a “Fork in the Road” subject line — has a Feb. 6 deadline. The private-sector workers she’s represented typically get at least several weeks to decide, Fernando said.
The Office of Personnel Management email on Tuesday to federal employees offered “deferred resignation.” Employees who accept the offer would resign by Feb. 6 and stop working, but continue to receive pay and benefits for eight months through Sept. 30.
The move is the latest of the Trump administration’s aggressive efforts to reduce the federal workforce.
The offer might appeal to workers who were planning to retire in the next few months, people who were already considering resigning, or people who fear their positions are at risk in some of the president’s other executive orders — for example, people who work in diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility roles.
But it is unclear whether the Trump administration has the legal authority to make such an offer, and workers should approach this offer with great caution, federal employee unions, associations and employment lawyers told MarketWatch.
“Because the legal authority is questionable regarding this offer, I do not advise accepting it,” Michael Fallings, a partner at law firm Tully Rinckey, told MarketWatch. “Given that this could be deemed illegal,” a worker who agreed to resign might then not receive the benefit and also lose their job. “You don’t know what’s going to happen with this,” Fallings said.
The potential scale of the administration’s action could be massive. There are about 2.3 million federal employees, excluding the U.S. Postal Service. Although the OPM said the offer is available to all full-time federal employees except for military personnel and postal workers, it is not yet clear which federal employees received the email, and whether any specific departments or functions were being targeted.
Many people who identified themselves as federal workers on social media said they were offended by the OPM’s recent actions to reduce the workforce, and intend to “hold the line” and not resign.
