KM Unit – ART. 24: Military Leave

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ARTICLE 24 – MILITARY LEAVE  

General Provisions 

An employee is entitled to Reserve Training Leave for Inactive Duty,  Temporary Military Leave for Active Duty Training, Extended Military  leave, Emergency National Guard Leave and Military Leave for Physical  Examinations provided that the employee gives advance verbal or written  notice of the leave except when such notice is precluded by military  necessity, impossibility or unreasonableness. In any event, the University  may require verification of an employee’s military orders. 

If any state or federal laws applicable to the University and relating to the  subject matter of this Article are more generous to employees than  currently provided for in this Article, the University will comply with the  law. 

A. Eligibility for Pay and Benefits 

  1. General Conditions and Eligibility. 

An employee granted temporary military leave for active-duty  training or extended military leave is entitled to receive regular  University pay for the first thirty (30) calendar days of such  leave in any one fiscal year, but not to exceed the actual period  of service, provided: 

  1. The employee has at least twelve (12) months of continuous  University service immediately prior to the granting of the  leave (any prior military service shall be included in  calculating this University service requirement); and
  2. such payment for temporary and extended military leave in  any combination, in addition to any University payment for military leave for physical examinations, does not exceed the pay due for a period of thirty (30) calendar days in any  one fiscal year.

2. Part-time Employee 

An eligible part-time employee shall receive pay in proportion  to the average percent of full-time worked during the three (3)  completed monthly pay periods immediately preceding the  leave. 

3. Ineligible Employee 

An employee not eligible for military leave pay may have such  absence charged to accrued vacation or the military leave may  be without pay. 

4. Monthly/Weekly Drills 

Paid leave is not granted for inactive duty such as regular weekly  or monthly meetings or weekend drills. 

 

  1. Service Credit and Benefits. An employee on temporary military  leave for active-duty training or extended military leave, who is  not on pay status shall receive length-of-service credit provided  that the employee returns to the University service at the  expiration of the leave in accordance with applicable State and  Federal laws. Such employee shall accrue vacation and sick  leave and receive holiday pay only in accordance with Article  17 – Vacation, Article 18 – Sick Leave and Article 16 – Holidays.  An employee on pay status shall receive regular benefits,  provided that the employee returns to University service at the  expiration of the leave in accordance with applicable State and  Federal laws. Retirement benefits and service credit shall be  continued in accordance with the provisions of the applicable  retirement system regulations. Health benefits may be continued  at the employee’s request and expense for a limited period of  time as outlined under the University’s group insurance  regulations. 

B. Temporary Military Leave for Active-Duty Training 

Temporary military leave for active-duty training shall be granted to  any employee who as a member of a reserve component of the United  States Armed Forces is ordered to full-time active military duty for  training for a period not to exceed one-hundred eighty (180) days,  including time spent traveling to and from such duty. 

C. Extended Military Leave 

Extended military leave shall be granted to an employee who enlists  or is ordered into active duty in the United States Armed Forces or a  reserve component or who is ordered into active Federal military  duty as a member of the National Guard or Naval Militia. Such leave  shall be granted for active-duty service at any length or for active duty training in excess of one-hundred eighty (180) days. 

  1. Period of Leave 

An employee shall be granted extended military leave for the  initial period of enlistment, service, or tour of duty for a period  not to exceed five (5) years. In addition, leave shall be granted  for a period up to six (6) months from the date of release from  duty if the employee requests such extension. 

  1. Service Credit and Benefits 

An employee granted extended military leave shall receive a  lump-sum payment for earned salary, and accrued vacation.  Upon written request, an employee may elect to retain accrued  vacation on the records for a period not to exceed one-hundred  eighty (180) days. Vacation credits retained on the records in  excess of one-hundred eighty (180) days shall be paid out at the  pay rate in effect at the time of payment, taking into account any  salary increases that may have occurred in the previous one hundred eighty (180) day period. 

  1. Sick Leave. 

Sick leave credit shall be retained on the records. 

D. Extended Military Leave 

An employee who was serving a probationary period at the time  extended military leave became effective shall be required to  complete the probationary period upon reinstatement. 

If the probationary employee served in active military service for a  period of more than thirty (30) days, they shall not be separated from  employment by management action except for cause for six (6)  months from the date of reinstatement. 

If the probationary employee served in active military service for a  period in excess of one-hundred eighty (180) days, they shall not be  separated from employment by management except for cause for one  (1) year from the date of reinstatement. 

E. Emergency National Guard Leave 

Military Leave shall be granted to an employee who as a member of  the National Guard is called to active duty by proclamation of the  Governor during a state of emergency. An employee who as a  member of the National Guard is called to active federal military duty  at the request of the president of the United States is not eligible for  emergency National Guard leave, but shall be granted extended  military leave as set forth in section D. 

  1. Eligibility for Pay 

An employee granted military leave for emergency National  Guard duty is entitled to receive regular University pay for a  period not to exceed thirty (30) calendar days in any (1) fiscal  year. An employee is eligible for pay regardless of the length of  University service, and such pay is in addition to any University  payment for temporary military leave for active-duty training,  extended military leave, and military leave for physical  examinations. 

  1. Service Credit and Benefits 

An employee on military leave with pay for emergency National  Guard duty shall receive all benefits related to employment  which are granted when an employee is on pay status. If not on  pay status, the employee shall receive length- of-service credit  provided that the employee returns to University service  immediately after the emergency service is over. Such employee  shall accrue vacation and sick leave and receive holiday pay in  accordance with Article 17 – Vacation, Article 18 – Sick Leave,  and Article 16 – Holidays. 

F. Physical Examination 

Military leave with pay shall be granted to an employee in  accordance with Section B. regardless of length of service, when the  employee is required to take a pre-induction or pre-enlistment  physical examination to fulfill a commitment under a Selective  Service or comparable law, or during a period of war or comparable  national emergency. 

  1. Time off for other physical examinations in connection with  military service may be charged to accrued sick leave or  vacation or shall be without pay. 
  2. The University may require verification of an employee’s  military orders to report for a physical examination. 

G. Reinstatement 

Following release from military service, an employee shall have such  right to return, and only such right, as may be required by State and  Federal law in effect at the time the employee applied for  reinstatement. Upon reinstatement, an employee shall receive salary  increases applicable to the employee’s position during the military  leave as provided by the Agreement. 

H. Military Caregiver Leave 

Military Caregiver Leave is an additional type of Family Care and  Medical Leave available to eligible employees. An employee may  take Military Caregiver Leave to care for a family member who is a  “covered service member” undergoing medical treatment,  recuperation or therapy for a “serious injury or illness.” 

  1. Eligibility Criteria and Duration 

An eligible employee is entitled to up to 26 workweeks of  Military Caregiver Leave during a single 12-month leave period.  The employee must be a spouse, domestic partner, parent, son,  daughter or next of kin of the covered service member to be  eligible for this type of leave and must meet the eligibility  requirements for Family Care and Medical Leave set forth in  Section H in Article 22 – Leaves of Absence. 

  1. Definitions

  2. “Covered service member” means (a) a current member of  the regular Armed Forces (including a member of the  

Reserves; a member of the National Guard; or a member of  the Armed Forces, the National Guard, or the Reserves who  is on the temporary disability retired list) who has a “serious  injury or illness” incurred or aggravated in the line of duty  on active duty for which they are undergoing medical  treatment, recuperation, or therapy; is otherwise in  outpatient status; or is on the temporary disability retired list  or (b) a veteran of the Armed Forces (including the National  Guard or the Reserves), provided that the veteran is undergoing medical treatment, recuperation, or therapy  for a “serious injury or illness” that was incurred or  aggravated in the line of duty on active duty within five (5)  years of the date on which the veteran left the Armed  Services. 

  1. “Outpatient status” means the status of a service member  assigned to (a) a military medical treatment facility as an  outpatient; or (b) a unit established for the purpose of providing command and control of members of the Armed  Forces receiving medical care as outpatients.

  2. “Serious injury or illness” means an injury or illness (a)  incurred or aggravated by the covered service member in  the line of duty on active duty in the Armed Forces that may  render the service member medically unfit to perform the  duties of their office, grade, rank, or rating or (b) of a veteran  of the Armed Forces (including the National Guard and the  Reserves), provided that the veteran’s injury or illness was  incurred or aggravated in the line of duty on active duty and  that the medical treatment, recuperation, or therapy that the  veteran is receiving for that injury or illness is occurring  within five (5) years of the date the veteran left the Armed Forces.

  3. “Parent of a covered service member” means a covered  service member’s biological, adopted, or foster parent or  any other individual who stood in loco parentis to the  covered service member. The term does not include parents  “in law.”

  4. “Son or daughter of a covered service member” means the  covered service member’s biological, adopted, or foster  child, stepchild, legal ward, or a child for whom the covered  service member stood in loco parentis, and who is of any  age.

  5. “Next of kin” means (a) the nearest blood relative of the  covered service member (other than the covered service  member’s spouse, domestic partner, parent, son or daughter)  or (b) the person who the covered service member has  designated in writing as their nearest blood relative for  purposes of Military Caregiver Leave. 

 

  1. “Single 12-month leave period” means the period beginning  on the first day the employee takes leave to care for the  covered service member and ends 12 months after that date.  (This leave period differs from the calendar year definition  of the leave year used for determining eligibility for other  types of FML at the University.)
  1. Leave Entitlement 

Leave is applied on a per-covered service member, per-injury  basis. Eligible employees may take more than one period of 26  workweeks of leave if the leave is to care for a different covered  service member or to care for the same service member with a  subsequent serious injury or illness, except that no more than 

26 workweeks of leave may be taken within any “single 12- month period.” If an eligible employee does not use all of their 26 workweeks of leave entitlement to care for a covered service  member during this single 12-month leave period, the remaining  part of the 26 workweek entitlement to care for the covered  service member for that serious injury or illness is forfeited. As  with other types of Family Care and Medical Leave, this leave  may also be taken on an intermittent or reduced schedule basis.  If the need for intermittent or reduced schedule leave is  foreseeable based on the planned medical treatment of the  covered service member, the employee may be required to  transfer temporarily, during the period that the intermittent or  reduced leave schedule is required, to an available alternative  position for which the employee is qualified and which better  accommodates a recurring periods of leave than does the  employee’s regular position. 

  1. Documentation and Certification 

Employees may be required to provide a certification completed  by an authorized health care provider of the covered service  member that provides information necessary to establish  entitlement to Military Caregiver Leave. In addition, employees  may be required to provide certain information (or have the  covered service member provide that information) including  information establishing that the service member is a covered  service member for purposes of Military Caregiver Leave, their  relationship with the employee, and an estimate of the leave needed to provide the care. The employee  may also be required to provide confirmation of a covered  family relationship between the employee and the service  member. 

  1. Use of Accrued Paid Leave 

Military Caregiver Leave is unpaid leave, except an employee may use sick leave in accordance with Article 18 – Sick Leave  and shall use accrued vacation time prior to taking leave without  pay. 

  1. Advance Notice 

Whenever possible, an employee shall provide at least 30 days’  advance notice. If 30 days’ notice is not practicable, notice shall  be given as soon as practicable. Failure to comply with this  notice requirement may result in postponement of leave. 

  1. Reinstatement 

Reinstatement shall be to the same position or, at the  department’s discretion, to an equivalent position with  equivalent employment benefits, pay, and other terms and  conditions of employment provided that the employee returns to  work immediately following termination of the leave. If the  employee would have been laid off or terminated had the  employee been working during the leave period, the employee  shall be afforded the same considerations afforded to other  employees who are laid off or terminated pursuant to the  provisions of Article 28 – Layoff and Reduction in Time. 

  1. Continuation of Health Benefits 

An employee on an approved Military Caregiver Leave shall be  entitled to continue participation in health plan coverage  (medical, dental, and optical) as if on pay status during the leave. 

 

I.Qualifying Exigency Leave 

Qualifying Exigency Leave is an additional type of Family Care and  Medical Leave available to eligible employees. If the employee is the  spouse, domestic partner, son, daughter or parent of a “covered  military member,” the employee may take Qualifying Exigency  Leave to attend to any “qualifying exigency” while the covered  military member is on activity military duty or has been notified of  an impending call or order to active military duty in the Armed  Forces. 

  1. Definitions
    1. “Covered military member” is an individual who is on  “active duty or call to active duty status” and is either (a) a  member of a regular component of the Armed Forces who  is deployed to or returning from a foreign country due to  service with the Armed Forces, (b) a member of the reserve  components (Army National Guard of the United States,  Army Reserve, Navy Reserve, Air National Guard of the  United States, Air Force Reserve, or Coast Guard Reserve),  or (c) a retired member of the regular Armed Forces or the  Reserves.

    2. “Parent of a covered military member” means a covered  military member’s biological, adopted, or foster parent or  any other individual who stood in loco parentis to the  covered military member. The term does not include  parents “in law.”
    3. “Son or daughter of a covered military member” means a  covered military member’s biological, adopted, or foster  child, stepchild, legal ward, or a child for whom the covered  military member stood in loco parentis, and who is of any  age.
    4. “Active duty or call to active duty status” means duty under  a call or order to active duty (or notification of an impending  call or order to active duty) in the Armed Forces.
    5. “Qualifying exigency” is defined as any one of the  following, provided that the activity relates to the covered  military member’s active duty or call to active duty status:
      1. Short notice deployment to address issues that arise due  to the covered military member being notified of an  impending call to active duty seven or fewer calendar days prior to the date of deployment;
      2. Military events and activities, including official  ceremonies;
      3. Childcare and school activities for a child of the  covered military member who is either under age 18 or  incapable of self-care;
      4. Financial and legal arrangements to address the  covered military member’s absence or to act as the covered military member’s representative for purposes  of obtaining, arranging, or appealing military service  benefits while the covered military member is on active  duty or call to active duty status and for the 90 days  after the termination of the covered military member’s  active duty status;
      5. Counseling (provided by someone other than a health  care provider) for the employee, for the covered  military member, or for the child of the covered  military member who is either under age 18 or  incapable of self-care;
      6. Rest and recuperation (up to 5 days of leave for each  instance) to spend time with the covered military member who is on short-term, temporary rest and recuperation leave during deployment;
      7. Post-deployment activities to attend ceremonies  sponsored by the military for a period of 90 days  following termination of the covered military member’s  active duty and to address issues that arise from the  death of the covered military member while on active  duty status; and
      8. Additional activities related to the covered military  member’s active duty or call to active duty status when  the employer and employee agree that such activity  qualifies as an exigency and agree to both the timing  and duration of the leave.
  1. Eligibility 

An employee who is the spouse, domestic partner, son, daughter,  or parent of a covered military member is eligible for Qualifying  Exigency Leave if the employee meets the eligibility  requirements for Family Care and Medical Leave set forth in  Section H of Article 22 – Leaves of Absence. 

  1. Leave Entitlement 

Eligible employees are entitled to up to 12 workweeks of  Qualifying Exigency leave during a calendar year. As with other  Family Care and Medical Leaves, Qualifying Exigency Leave  also may be taken on an intermittent or reduced schedule basis. 

  1. Documentation and Certification 

Employees may be required to provide a copy of the covered  military member’s active duty orders. Employees may also be  required to provide certification of: (1) the reasons for requesting  Qualified Exigency Leave, (2) the beginning and end dates of  the qualifying exigency, and (3) other relevant information. 

  1. Use of Accrued Paid Leave 

Qualified Exigency Leave is unpaid leave, except that an  employee shall use accrued vacation time prior to taking leave  without pay. 

  1. Notice 

The employee shall provide notice of the need for leave as soon  as practicable. 

  1. Reinstatement 

Reinstatement shall be to the same position or, at the  department’s discretion, to an equivalent position with  equivalent employment benefits, pay, and other terms and  conditions of employment provided that the employee returns to  work immediately following termination of the leave. If the  employee would have been laid off or terminated had the  employee been working during the leave period, the employee  shall be afforded the same considerations afforded to other  employees who are laid off or terminated pursuant to the  provisions of Article 28 – Layoff and Reduction in Time. 

  1. Continuation of Health Benefits 

An employee on an approved Qualified Exigency Leave shall be  entitled to continue participation in health plan coverage  (medical, dental, and optical) as if on pay status for a period of  up to 12 workweeks in a calendar year. 

J. Military Spouse/Domestic Partner Leave 

An employee who is a spouse or domestic partner of a member of  the Armed Forces, National Guard, or Reserves may take this leave  during a “qualified leave period” when the employee’s spouse or  domestic partner is on leave from a period of military conflict.  “Qualified leave period” means the period during which the  “qualified member” is on leave from deployment during a period of  military conflict. An eligible employee shall be entitled to up to a  maximum of ten (10) days of unpaid leave during a qualified leave  period. 

  1. Eligibility to be eligible, an employee must satisfy all of the  following criteria:

    1. Be a spouse or domestic partner of a “qualified member”  (defined below);

    2. Perform services for the University for an average of 20 or  more hours per week;
    3. Provide the University with notice, within two business  days of receiving official notice that the qualified member will be on leave from deployment, of the employee’s intention to take the leave; and
    4. Submit written documentation certifying that the qualified  member will be on leave from deployment during the time  that leave is being requested by the employee.
  1. Definitions
    1. “Qualified member” means a person who is any of the  following:
    2. A member of the Armed Forces of the United States  who has been deployed during a period of military  conflict to an area designated as a combat theater or combat zone by the President of the United States, or
    3. A member of the National Guard who has been deployed during a period of military conflict, or
    4. A member of the Reserves who has been deployed  during a period of military conflict.
  1. “Period of military conflict” means either of the following:

  2. A period of war declared by the United States Congress,  or
  3. A period of deployment for which a member of a reserve component is ordered to Active Duty, as  defined in Military & Veterans Code section 395.10
  1. Substitution of Paid Leave  

This leave is unpaid leave, except that an employee shall use accrued vacation time prior to taking leave without pay. 

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