| Military Leave FAQs | |||||
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References General Information Q: Who is eligible for paid military leave? A: Employees in FTE, temporary grant, or time-limited positions with official military orders are eligible for paid military leave to engage in training or any other duties to which they are lawfully ordered. Temporary employees are not eligible for paid military leave. Q: What are official military orders? A: All written or oral orders are considered valid when issued by an official military authority. An employee is required to provide official written military orders at the agency's request; however, written military orders may not be available before the employee is required to leave for military service. Q: Can an employee use the 15 workdays, normally used annually for short term military training, for active military service in response to an executive order for a declaration of an emergency? A: The South Carolina statute and the State Human Resources Regulations provide that an employee may use 15 regularly scheduled average workdays to engage in training or any other duties to which he is lawfully ordered. Q: Are the 15 regularly scheduled workdays of short term military leave granted on a calendar year or a fiscal year basis? A: An employee should make a one-time declaration of whether the year is considered calendar or federal fiscal. Typically, this determination is based on the year used by the employee's military unit. Q: When an employee has used a portion of the 15 days of short term military leave, and is called to active service due to a declaration of an emergency, can he use the remainder of the 15 workdays of short-term military leave? A: If the unused portion of the 15 days is within the same year, an employee may use the remainder of the days for active military service. Q: Must the 15 workdays of military leave be consecutive? A:The 15 workdays are not required to be consecutive. Q: Are the 15 days of short-term military leave calendar days or workdays? A: The 15 days of short-term military leave are based on regularly scheduled average workdays. Q: Can the agency refuse to grant an employee military leave? A: An agency cannot refuse military leave to an employee who has official oral or written military orders. Q: Is an employee on military leave entitled to holiday even if it is a scheduled day of work? A: If the employee is out on military leave and a holiday falls on a regularly scheduled work day, the employee should receive the holiday and the holiday would not count towards military leave. Travel Time Q: Is an employee's travel time included as part of the 15 days of military leave? A: If travel time is not included in the official military order, an employee may request annual leave, compensatory time, or leave without pay for travel time to get to the assignment outside of the dates on the order. Declared Emergency: 30 Additional Days Q: If a state employee is called to active military service for a declaration of an emergency, is he eligible for any additional military leave with pay beyond the 15 days? A: In accordance with SC Code of Laws § 8-7-90, an employee who receives official military orders to serve during a declared emergency is entitled to 30 days of paid leave per declared emergency in addition to the 15 workdays of paid military leave granted each year. Q: Are the 30 additional days of military leave for a declared emergency calendar days or workdays? A: The 15 days of short-term military leave and the 30 additional days of leave for a declared emergency are based on regularly scheduled average workdays. Volunteers for Military Service Assignment Q: Is an employee who volunteers for active service eligible for military leave? A: If an employee volunteers for a military service assignment and an official military order is issued, he is eligible to receive paid military leave. Additional Leave Options Q: What are the leave options for an employee who has used all eligible military leave and is on a long term military leave of absence? A: Upon exhaustion of available military leave, an employee may elect to use any available compensatory time or annual leave or he can be placed on leave without pay. Leave Without Pay for Military Service Q: How are leave and pay affected when an employee on active military service is on leave without pay? A: An employee will not be eligible for leave accrual and merit increases while in leave without pay. The State service date, continuous service date, and leave accrual date will not be adjusted during periods of leave without pay for military service. An employee who returns to work within 5 years will be entitled to any general increase(s) that occurs while on active service. Reemployment Rights Q: Who is entitled to Veteran's Reemployment Rights? A: In accordance with the Uniformed Service Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA), employees who occupy an FTE position (including those in a probationary or trial period) may be absent from work for military duty and retain reemployment rights to five years. There are important exceptions to the five-year limit, including initial enlistments lasting more than five years, periodic National Guard and Reserve training duty, and involuntary active duty extensions and recalls, especially during a time of national emergency. USERRA clearly establishes that reemployment protection does not depend on the timing, frequency, duration, or nature of an individual's service as long as the basic eligibility criteria are met. For a full list of the exceptions to reemployment beyond five years, see Section 4312(c) of USERRA. (Title 38 U.S. Code, Chapter 43, Section (Section 4312(c)). Under USERRA, "an employer is not required to reemploy a person under this chapter (3 USC § 4312) if the employment from which the person leaves to serve in the uniformed services is for a brief, non-recurrent period and there is no reasonable expectation that such employment will continue indefinitely or for a significant period." An employee in a temporary capacity does not have reemployment rights. Q: Upon completion of active military service, what reemployment rights exist? A: The reemployment rights a person receives upon return from military service depend on the duration of the time spent in military service: Q: Are there time limits for reporting back to work after release from military service in order for military personnel to retain the Veteran's reemployment rights? A: The employee must notify the agency of the intent to return to work and the required time periods are: Performance Review Date Q: What effect does military leave have on an employee's review date? A: The performance review date for an employee on military service is not affected unless the employee is placed on leave without pay. An employee on leave without pay will have the review date adjusted after 30 unpaid workdays. The performance review day will be adjusted one calendar day for each calendar day the employee remains on leave without pay. Insurance Services Q: How are health and dental benefits affected when an employee on active military service is on leave without pay? A: An employee on leave without pay due to military service will be allowed to remain on the active group programs (health and dental) and provide coverage for any dependents by paying the active employee share only for health and dental coverage. Q: Can an employee elect to cancel health and dental coverage during military service? A: If the employee elects to cancel coverage during his active duty status, his coverage can be reinstated when he is discharged or released from active duty and resumes employment. The request must be made within 31 days of discharge. Q: Who does an employee call with individual insurance services questions? A: Contact the agency's Benefits Administrator. SC State Retirement System Q: How does an employee on leave without pay due to active military service continue to make contributions to his retirement account? A: An employee on leave without pay due to military service can: Q: Who does an employee call with individual retirement account questions? A: The SC State Retirement contact for individual questions are:
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