3.1.23 Military Duty Leave
Piedmont University follows the guidelines established by the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) regarding military leave. The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 is a federal law intended to ensure that persons who serve or have served in the Armed Forces, Reserves, National Guard or other “uniformed services;” (1) are not disadvantaged in their civilian careers because of their service; (2) are promptly reemployed in their civilian jobs upon their return from duty; and (3) are not discriminated against in employment based on past, present, or future military service.
Definition
"Military Leave" is any time off that is provided to staff who are members of the National Guard or other reserve component of the United States Armed Services and who are called to active duty, attend scheduled reserve service, and/or temporary training duty.
The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) applies to persons who perform voluntarily or involuntarily duty in the "uniformed services" - including the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Coast Guard, and Public Health Service commissioned corps, as well as the reserve components of each of these services. Federal training or service in the Army National Guard and Air National Guard also gives rise to rights under USERRA.
Uniformed service includes active duty, active duty for training, inactive duty training (such as drills), initial active-duty training, and funeral honors duty (performed by the National Guard and reserve members), as well as the period for which a staff member is absent from Piedmont University employment for the purpose of an examination to determine fitness to perform any such duty.
Notification of Leave
Unless giving notice is unreasonable or precluded by military necessity, staff requiring a military leave of absence should provide their supervisor and Department of Human Resources with a written or verbal advance notice along with, if available, a copy of the military order. It is recommended that the notice be given to the supervisor and Department of Human Resources at least two weeks before the military-leave-of-absence start date.
Piedmont University may not insist on knowing exactly when the staff member will return to work; however, the staff member may be asked to furnish the approximate beginning and concluding dates of his/her training.
Duration of Leave
A. Extended Military Leave
Employees who must be absent from work due to military duty for a time period that exceeds ten working days will be placed on an unpaid military leave of absence for the time period consistent with military orders and a completed Leave Request form submitted to the Human Resources Office.
B. Temporary (Two-Week) Military Leave
In addition to the rights and benefits provided to employees taking extended military leave, employees who must be absent from his/her job for a period of not more than 10 working days each year in order to participate in temporary military duty are entitled to as many as 10 days of unpaid military leave.
Benefits During Military Leave
An employee on military leave may elect to continue the University health plan coverage and is required to pay only the employee's portion of the insurance premium when in the service for 30 days or less. Thereafter, the employee may elect to continue healthcare coverage as provided under COBRA. However, if coverage is terminated at the employee's option, the University may not impose a waiting period for benefit reinstatement upon return to employment. For more specific information regarding the status of Health Plan coverage, Group Term Life/AD&D and other benefits during military leave, contact the Human Resources Office. Staff on Temporary Training Duty (30 days or less -either on paid or unpaid leave) are fully eligible for all benefits. Sick leave and vacation should continue to accrue as if the staff member had not been absent for military training. If the staff member elects to take an unpaid leave, the employee/supervisor must notify Human Resources so that vacation and sick leave accruals may be manually credited. Holidays falling within the leave period will be credited to the staff member and may be taken within 60 days after a return from leave. Alternatively, the staff member may request payment in the pay period during which the holiday occurs.
An employee on military leave may opt to, but is not required to use accrued paid leave during the time that he/she is performing military service. This is an exception to our other leave policies which requires an employee to exhaust all accrued leave prior to going into an unpaid status. Leave is not accrued while the employee is on military leave.
The University will activate the returning veteran's benefits based upon the length of service he/she would have had if he/she remained on the job.
Leave may be severed upon any voluntary extension of military service that is not at the request of the government.
Returning to Work After Military Duty
To be eligible for protection under USERRA, the employee must report back to work or apply for reemployment within the following guidelines:
1) If the employee served fewer than 31 days or was away from Piedmont University for other qualified reasons, the employee must return to work the next regularly scheduled workday.
2) If the employee served more than 30 days but fewer than 181 days, the employee must notify his/her supervisor of his/her intention to return to work within 14 days after completion of service.
3) If the employee served more than 180 days, the employee must notify his/her supervisor of his/her intention to return to work within 90 days after completion of service.
4) Upon notification of intent to return to work, the employee must provide military discharge documentation to his/her supervisor that establishes timeliness of application for reemployment and length and character of the staff member’s military service.
An employee returning from military leave will receive benefits determined by seniority that the employee had at the beginning of the military leave, plus any additional seniority and benefits the employee would have obtained with continuous employment. In addition, time spent on active duty will be counted towards eligibility for FMLA once the employee has returned to work.
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Training or retraining and other accommodations may be required of staff members who take military leaves of absence.
Special protection against discharge, except for cause, may occur. The period of this protection is 180 days following periods of service of 31-180 days. For periods of service of 181 days or more, it is one year.
Contact Human Resources for questions regarding reemployment of employees returning from military leave.
Pre-Induction Physical
A staff member who receives notification to report for a pre-induction military physical may be granted up to two days off. Such time may be charged to sick leave.
Compensation for Staff on Military Leave of Absence as of the Start of a New Fiscal Year
Staff who are on an official military leave (as of the start of the new evaluation period) and who return to work during the fiscal year (in accordance with the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) of 1994) will receive any across-the-board compensation adjustments that they would have received if they had not been on military leave.
At the time of his or her return from military leave, a staff member who worked more than six months during the preceding 12 months will be eligible for a pay increase based on the guidelines for staff working more than six months.
If a staff member worked six months or less during the preceding 12 months, he/she will be eligible for an increase based on the guidelines for staff who have worked six months or less.
If the returning staff member did not work during the preceding 12 months, he/she will receive the greater of their current rate or the minimum of their pay range.