Military Leave Policy
hrdiva
4 Posts
This is my first time posting or participating in the Forum. It looks like there's a lot of good advice and experiences being shared.
I wonder if you would share with me what your military leave policy is, and more to the point, is any portion of a military leave "paid leave?" I'm in Houston and historically this leave policy (which currently only provides for unpaid leave) has not come into play, but we now have an employee whose Guard unit has been deployed to New Orleans, and we are told it is for a two-week minimum. We might consider amending our policy to begin paying employees the difference between their military pay and their regular salary with us or some other level of compensation (some companies pay according to their STD policy (step-up plan based on years of service with a max)) for some short-term period. Just wondering if any of you have other methods of compensation and/or what lengths of time you might continue to pay an individual during their leave. Since we think it could be a short-term assignment, I'd hate to penalize this individual for particpating in relief efforts in New Orleans.
Thanks for your help.
I wonder if you would share with me what your military leave policy is, and more to the point, is any portion of a military leave "paid leave?" I'm in Houston and historically this leave policy (which currently only provides for unpaid leave) has not come into play, but we now have an employee whose Guard unit has been deployed to New Orleans, and we are told it is for a two-week minimum. We might consider amending our policy to begin paying employees the difference between their military pay and their regular salary with us or some other level of compensation (some companies pay according to their STD policy (step-up plan based on years of service with a max)) for some short-term period. Just wondering if any of you have other methods of compensation and/or what lengths of time you might continue to pay an individual during their leave. Since we think it could be a short-term assignment, I'd hate to penalize this individual for particpating in relief efforts in New Orleans.
Thanks for your help.
Comments
All the other advice is good. We had an employee who was activated and requested the difference in his military pay and his pay here. We looked at his total package, which included $800/mo. housing allowance, and a food allowance. It turned out, because of his rank, that he made more in the military.
One other thing to consider if you do pay is the effect it will have on his retirement contributions, if any. And finally, benefits accrual such as paid time off.
USERRA would tell you that there is no requirement for the company to do anything more than to protect the person's position and to afford the individual with "continuing status of employment", as if the individual was present for duty with the company.
I hope this helps!
PORK