Name of requestor: Wynette L. Cerciello

Department: Human Resources

Preferred appearance date: 5/3/05    Time required: 10

Date decision needed: 5/3/05

Objective: Revision of Human Resources policy number 331.6 Section V, F, regarding Military Leave.

Situation: Current policy is not compliant with state statute and USERRA regulations.  This revision will bring the policy into compliance.

The current policy states that 19 days military leave will be paid per tour of duty.  State statute requires 15 days of paid military leave per calendar year.

The current policy states eligible employees may elect to continue County sponsored health plan programs for up to 18 months during active duty.  We are required to offer up to 24 months of coverage under USERRA.

Finally, the current policy states that the employee will begin paying a full premium for health insurance at the time that the employee has used all of their paid leave.  Under USERRA, we are required to treat military leave as we would our most generous leave‑without‑pay policy when it comes to the payment of health insurance premiums.  Therefore, we have changed the policy to state that the employee will not be required to pay the full premium until a period of 30 days of leave‑without‑pay has expired.

Proposal: The Human Resources Department is proposing a revision to the County's Benefits policy, 331.6.F.  The proposed changes will make the policy compliant with state statute and USERRA.

Advantages: Compliance with state statute and USERRA.  In addition, employees are given 15 days of paid military leave per year.  This is advantageous because currently tours of duty are longer than one calendar year, therefore employees receive a greater benefit then if paid per tour of duty.

Disadvantages: None

Requested action: Approval of the revisions to policy 331.6.F regarding Military Leave.

Potentially Affected Interest: County employees

Level of Public Interest and Participations: Low

Audio/Visual/Computer Needs: None

           


MILITARY LEAVE:  Larimer County complies with applicable state and federal law in granting paid military leave to eligible employees.

1.   Giving Notice:  The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) requires that service members provide advance written or verbal notice to their employer for all military duty unless giving notice is impossible, unreasonable, or precluded by military necessity. 

2.   Amount of Paid Military Leave:  Any regular employee who is a member of an organized military reserve unit of the United States Government and on active military duty or training will be granted, per calendar year, a maximum of 15 work days of County paid leave, including necessary travel time.  For Military Leave purposes, a "work day" is defined as the number of hours an employee was or would have been scheduled to work on a day missed due to active military duty or training.  The employee may keep his or her regular County pay and his or her military pay. 

3.   Military Leave Without Pay:  If a regular employee's period of uniformed service exceeds the period of available County paid Military Leave and/or any accrued leave the employee chooses to use, the employee will be eligible for Military Leave Without Pay during the period of uniformed service.  A regular employee's eligibility for Military Leave Without Pay will end upon her or his return to duty or the exhaustion of applicable reporting period under USERRA.

4.   Benefit Coverages:  Eligible employees performing federal active military duty for more than 30 days may elect to continue County-sponsored health plan programs for up to 24 months.  However, the employee will be required to pay the full premium after the first 30 days of leave without pay.  Prior to departure for service, the employee should coordinate her or his coverage under Tri-Care with her or his military unit.

5.   Retirement Benefits:  Employees are treated as if they had been continuously employed for retirement purposes.  This applies to vesting and also determining the amount of monthly contributions.

6.  Family and Medical Leave Act:  Federal active military duty time counts toward hours worked for eligibility.

7.  Pay:  The returning service member is entitled to his or her pre-service rate, adjusted by merit increases and/or market adjustments added during his or her absence.

8.  Vacation/Sick Leave Use and Accrual:  Service members are able, but are not required, to use accrued vacation leave, floating holidays and comp-time while performing military service.  Vacation and sick leave will continue to accrue during the employee’s County-paid leave for uniformed service.  If an employee on paid leave for uniformed service would have been entitled to an increase in his or her vacation accrual rate while on active duty, the employee will earn vacation at the new rate upon return to County employment. 

9.   Probationary Status:  A probationary employee called to military service is eligible for reemployment under County policy and USERRA.  When a probationary employee is reemployed, he or she will return to the same status as existed prior to the military service.  For example, if a six month probationary employee is called to active military service after completing four months of probationary employment, upon return to work status, the employee will be in a probationary status for the remaining two months.

10. Reemployment Rights:  In accordance with the provisions of USERRA, the individual must meet the following conditions or eligibility criteria:

a)   Must hold a County job (jobs held for a brief, non-recurrent period with no reasonable expectation of continuing for a significant period do not qualify).

b)   Must have given written or verbal notice to supervisor prior to leaving the job for military training or service except when precluded by military necessity.

c)   Must not have exceeded the 5-year cumulative limit on periods of service.

d)   Must have been released from active service under conditions other than dishonorable.

e)   Must report back to the County in a timely manner or submit a timely application for reemployment.  Time limits are:

Military Service Less Than 31 Days:  Employees must report for reemployment “at the beginning of the first full regularly scheduled working period on the first full calendar day following completion of service and expiration of eight hours after time for safe transportation back to his or her residence.”

Military Service More Than 30 Days but Less Than 181 Days:  Employees must report no later that 14 days following completion of service.

Military Service over 180 Days:  Employees must report no later than 90 days after completion of military service.

The application deadlines are extended up to two years if an employee is hospitalized or convalescing from an injury caused by active duty.  In addition, the two-year period could be further extended by the “minimum time required to accommodate the employee’s disabilities.”

11. Five-Year Limit Defined:  An employee is not entitled to reemployment or other benefits provided by USERRA if his or her cumulative period of absence for military service, from one employer, exceeds five years.  For this purpose, periods of military service shall not include service:

a.   Required beyond five years to complete an initial period of obligated service;

b.   During which the employee was unable to obtain a discharge or release in time to prevent the cumulative absence from exceeding five years, through no fault of the employee;

c.   Necessary to complete periods of statutorily mandated training for National Guard and Reserves necessary for professional development;

d.   Performed by a member of the uniformed service who is ordered to or retained on active duty during a war, or in certain emergency or national-security-related situations; or

e.   Performed by a member of a uniformed service in support of an operational