Limit on National Guard?

Rockie

We have a fairly highly compensated employee who has been with us for some time. He is also in an area that is crucial to the operation of the company. He is ALSO a member of the National Guard.

Most members of the guard take around two weeks a year to fulfill their obligation, but this guy has finagled a way to get lots of guard time in (he has his CO sign off on training, etc.) and he, of course, gets to keep his paid time off intact.

The issue this is causing (not to mention to resentment among his co-workers at having to pick up his extra workload) is one of staffing. In addition to all his guard time, he also takes several weeks of vacation time a year.

His supervisor is livid about this, but I maintain he is covered under the Uniformed Services Act and as long as his CO signs off on the orders, then we are obligated to comply.

Anyone have any similar issues?

Miriam George

I would suggest you call a higher ranking officer at your local National Guard, and also consult with your attorney. My "opinion" is that you are not required under USERRA (and I would say if we were in peacetime conditions) to allow the time off for an employee to sign up for and/or volunteer for multitudes of special training. A person in the National Guard is required to do a typical 2-week summer camp training, but I wouldn't think you should have to accommodate beyond what is actually required by the military. Again, legal consultation on this is advised because my opinions may be incorrect.

Don D

I've had experience with an employee who often used his influence to get 'assigned' to attend a variety of training functions, some overseas. USERRA requires that we must accomodate "Required drills and annual training and other training duty certified by the military to be necessary for professional development or skill training/retraining." I'd say if the guy has the right contacts at his unit he can probably manage to get 'assigned' to such training opportunities. Often these assignments are made in response simply to the service member's request. The Guard or Reserves will generally assume the civilian employer has no conflict if they do not hear from you to the contrary. Each state has one or more 'ombusdmen' whose job it is to provide information and act as a go-between with you and the service member in these cases. Also, a call from the employer to the Unit Commander will head this off if it is repetitive training beyond the summer requirement. Once the unit commander hears from the civilian employer that the employee/servicemember's repetitive absence is problematic for the employer, you will see a change in these assignment's frequency, and they may cease altogether except for the annual requirement. Be careful not to get into an adversarial discussion with the employee, lest he file a complaint of discrimination against you with that same ombudsman. When you have a system abuser, you have two choices: Allow it to continue or challenge it by calling the unit commander or ombudsman. A toll free for the ombudsman national level is 800-336-4590.

durasupreme

The ESGR (Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve) website has detailed and very helpful information. Go to: [url]www.esgr.org/faqemployers.html[/url]. We had questions on this topic just recently and found the answers to our questions on the website.