Sign the “Deferred Resignation” contract at your peril. A law professor says you may be giving up some essential rights.

Federal workers across the nation face a life-altering decision this week — tender their resignations and be paid through Sept. 30. Or hold firm and face future rounds of belt-tightening and strict return to the office requirements.

Hundreds of thousands of federal employees must decide by February 6, 2025, whether to accept the " Fork in the Road" deferred resignation offer.

The Trump administration issued an email blast on Jan. 28 giving most of the country’s 2.3 million eligible employees federal workers the option to resign with pay through Sept. 30. The deadline to decide on whether to accept the offer is Thursday.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has joined with 12 other attorneys general from across the country warning federal employees to be wary of the Trump administration’s “deferred resignation” program,

The Trump administration said on Sunday that federal employees involved in public safety positions, such as air traffic controllers, are exempt from a financial incentive to quit government jobs.

Deferred resignation offers incited confusion and alarm for civil servants of various stripes, but it cut particularly deep for federally employed wildland firefighters.

Big financial decisions made in haste are often followed by regret, especially when the terms leave you with no guarantees or options.

On Tuesday, more than 2 million federal workers received an emailed offer to resign but be paid for eight months, part of an aggressive effort by the administration of President Donald Trump to drastically cut the size of the federal workforce.