Military Leave From Work | Meaning and Definition

What is military leave from work?

Military leave from work is granted to employees who participate in active or inactive military duties. Any employee who has been commanded to observe duty at field exercises or with troops or for instruction with any branch of the National Guard or the Armed Forces is eligible for military leave from work.

To procure this leave, the employee must notify the employer in advance verbally or through a written notice of the imminent military training or service. This leave may even be mandatory in case an employee attends annual or weekend Reserves training or National Guard, or if they are posted on active duty or called to service. The military leave from work may start from a few days and may last up to a year or even more. However, the leave cannot extend the duration five years at the most.

Payment for military leave

Under the federal military leave policy, employers are not liable to pay the employees when they are on military leave from work. This implies that military leave is unpaid. Nonetheless, employers must reserve a job position for the employee and restore payment and applicable seniority benefits as the employee returns from the leave.

Although military leave from work is unpaid, the policy for the same states that if an employee works during any part of the week at civilian employment, he/ she meets the criteria for getting paid for the entire week. For instance, in case an employee works for three days in a week before being called to join the military duty, the employee is provided reimbursement for the entire week.