(A) The town encourages employees to serve their country by participating in the uniformed services. If a person is called upon to perform military service, whether it involves active duty or annual training requirements for the National Guard or U.S. Military Reserves, he or she may be entitled to reinstatement/reemployment and other rights under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (“USERRA”), being 38 U.S.C. §§ 4301 et seq. In order to qualify for benefits under USERRA, the employee’s separation from military service must be under honorable conditions and it must meet all of the other requirements of the law.
(B) In order to qualify for town military benefits, the employee’s military service must be in compliance with the following requirements.
(1) Eligibility. This policy applies to any person who must be absent from employment to perform a duty, either voluntary or involuntary, in the uniformed services. To qualify under the town’s military leave policy, an employee requesting leave must provide advance written notice to his or her elected official/department head as soon as possible, and furnish a copy of his or her military orders that identifies the time period for the leave as specifically as possible.
(2) Reinstatement. Upon returning from a military leave lasting fewer than 31 days, in order to be eligible for USERRA and town military benefits, an employee must report to work at the beginning of the first full regularly scheduled work day following the completion of the military service.
(3) Reemployment. For military leave lasting more than 30 days, but less than 181 days, in order to be eligible for USERRA and town military benefits, an employee must submit an application for reemployment before the expiration of 14 days after the completion of the military service. An employee on a military leave lasting longer than 181 days must submit an application for reemployment before the expiration of 90 days after the completion of the service.
(4) Compensation. Employees are entitled to their town pay and military pay for up to 15 days per year.
(5) State Military Family Leave.
(a) An employee who has been employed with the town for at least 12 months and has worked at least 1,500 hours during the 12-month period immediately preceding the day the leave begins; and is the spouse, parent, grandparent, or sibling of a person who is ordered to active duty, is entitled to an unpaid leave of absence not to exceed a total of ten working days. An employee may take this leave of absence during one or more of the following periods:
1. During the 30 days before active duty orders are in effect;
2. During a period in which the person ordered to active duty is on leave while active duty orders are in effect; and
3. During the 30 days after the active duty orders are terminated.
(b) An employee wanting to take military family leave shall provide written notice, including a copy of the active duty orders if available. The employee is required to give the town 30 days’ written notice before the date on which the employee intends to begin the leave, unless the active duty orders are issued less than 30 days before the date the requested leave is to begin.
(c) The town requires that accrued vacation, compensatory time, and/or floating holidays be paid and taken concurrently with the leave. The town requires an employee to first use any banked compensatory time then use vacation and/or floating holiday time during the approved leave. Accrued sick time cannot be used during the leave.
(6) Questions. If an employee has any questions regarding his or her rights surrounding military leave, he or she should contact the Human Resources Director.