(a) As of 2022, there were over 600,000 United States military reserve and National Guard personnel serving. This military reserve and National Guard population has been a cornerstone of the City for decades. Military reserve and National Guard members have helped build the City and can be found among the ranks of private sector healthcare, professional, and blue-collar workers. Military reserve and National Guard personnel have made significant professional and personal sacrifices to serve our community, the City, the State of California, and the United States, and such sacrifices make them specially deserving of recognition and respect.
(b) Military reserve and National Guard personnel face many challenges when they serve dually as civilian workers and in the uniformed services, including employment discrimination, income insecurity, financial stress, service-related injuries, mental stress, and suicide.
(c) According to a September 9, 2019 Congressional Research Service report authored by Kristy Kamarck and Bryce Mendez, military reservists in the National Guard had a suicide rate of 21.8 per 100,000 persons, compared to 17.4 per 100,000 in the U.S. adult population. While all military personnel and veterans have common suicide risk factors such as exposure to combat trauma or stress, combat-related illness or injury, increased access to firearms, and reintegration issues, there are additional suicide risk factors unique to military reservists, due to the dual nature of their employment. Due to the part-time nature of their military service, most military reservists are employed in the civilian sector.
(d) Military reserve and National Guard personnel are often required to take military leave from work in order to fulfill their obligations, including attending annual training, weekend training, and emergency activations. Military reserve and National Guard personnel have also been deployed to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, natural disasters such as wildfires and floods, the need to protect the California and United States Capitols, and overseas missions. Private sector military reserve and National Guard personnel taking military leave often take a loss in compensation because their civilian jobs pay more.
(e) Due to the many challenges facing military reserve and National Guard personnel, the United States has made efforts to protect the income and employment security of such personnel. Under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994, 38 U.S.C. Ch. 43, military reserve and National Guard personnel are protected from employment discrimination on the basis of their service and are guaranteed civilian reemployment rights following military service.
(f) State and local laws also protect the income and employment security of military reserve and National Guard personnel. Under California Government Code Sections 19775 and 19775.1, state employees granted military leave are eligible for paid leave for the first 30 calendar days of active duty served during the absence. California Military and Veterans Code Sections 395.01, 395.02, and 395.03 grant other public employees up to 30 calendar days of pay while on military leave.
(g) Administrative Code Section 16.1 states that City employees granted military leave are eligible for up to 30 days of pay while on military leave in a given fiscal year.
(h) Most employment protections for military reserve and National Guard personnel apply to public sector employees. Salesforce, the largest employer in San Francisco as of 2022, provides military leave pay for military reservists and National Guard for up to 12 months. While some private employers such as Salesforce have stepped up in this manner, military reserve and National Guard personnel in the private sector have far fewer protections.