Military Leave

A military leave of absence will be granted to employees who are absent from work because of service in the U.S. uniformed services or the National Disaster Medical System (NDMS) in accordance with the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA), and for service with any other state or federal disaster/emergency assistance team such as DMAT, DMORT, or EMS Task Force. Advance notice of such service is required, unless military or other team deployment necessity prevents such notice or it is otherwise impossible or unreasonable.

Leave for up to 15 consecutive working days (excluding Saturdays, Sundays and holidays) per year will be paid at the employee's regular rate of pay for such service. Leave beyond 15 work days will be unpaid. However, employees may use any available paid time off for the absence at their discretion.

Continuation of health insurance benefits is available as required by USERRA based on the length of the leave and subject to the terms, conditions and limitations of the applicable plans for which the employee is otherwise eligible.

Benefit accruals, such as vacation, sick leave, or holiday benefits, will be suspended during the leave and will resume upon the employee's return to active employment.

Employees on military leave are required to return to work or reapply for work according to USERRA in a timely manner. Employees on longer military leave must apply for reinstatement in accordance with USERRA and all applicable state laws.

Employees returning from military leave will be placed in the position they would have attained had they remained continuously employed or a comparable one depending on the length of military service in accordance with USERRA. They will be treated as though they were continuously employed for purposes of determining benefits based on length of service.

Contact the Human Resources Manager for more information or questions about military leave.

Policy No.  6.05  Issued  1/1/2019  Applicable  12/13/2018