This is a sponsored column by attorneys John Berry and Kimberly Berry of Berry & Berry, PLLC, an employment and labor law firm located in Northern Virginia that specializes in federal employee, security clearance, retirement and private sector employee matters.
With the deadline approaching today (February 6, 2025) for federal employees considering whether to take up the administration’s offer to resign and get paid through the end of September (“Fork in the Road” email), many still have questions.
There have been multiple changes to the offer and proposed settlement terms over the last few days so employees accepting the deferred resignation are facing risks as to whether or not the program will work as planned.
Many federal employees offered the deferred resignation opportunity could benefit from it, but one of the problems is that the program has been rushed out too quickly. With the speed that the program was put in place, most federal employees have been confused about how it applies, whether they will have to do any work during the resignation period and whether it is binding. Most agency administrators have been unable to properly advise subordinate federal employees on what type of work they will have to do during the resignation period and many other questions.
One version of the Fork in the Road email suggests that vacations are an option, which is likely not the case. Federal employees can expect to work to some degree (or perhaps full time) from home if...
Where summary judgment was awarded to a defendant in a qui tam Medicare fraud case, that judgment should be affirmed because the relator has failed to present any evidence through which a reasonabl...