Laws and Policies Regarding Military Leave In California
Every person has his or her own right. As an employer, you should ensure that you observe all the rights of your employees. You should not discriminate your employees. The people working in the military also have their own rights. You will realize that both federal and California law basically provides protection from discrimination for employees who normally leave their job to serve in the military. The following is information regarding military leave in California:
1. Right to a leave of absence.
You will realize that advance notice of a military leave of absence is not normally required if it is impossible or precluded by the military necessity. To qualify for this right, the employee must give advance written or verbal notice to his or her employer. You will realize that the absence may not actually exceed five years combined from the same employer. In this case, the employee must submit an application for reemployment. If he or she fails to do so, he or she should report to work soon after his or her period of military is over.
2. Paid time off and pension issues.
You will realize that employees are normally entitled to use accrued vacation or paid time off benefits for the time served, provided the accrual occurred before the leave. However, the employer might not require to use these benefits for the time served. An employer may not treat the leave as a break in service for purposes of the employee’s participation in a pension plan.
3. Right to benefits and seniority
Basically, employees have the right to keep the seniority they earned up to the time they went on leave in addition to the level they would have earned had they continued work. In addition, employees are also entitled to all benefits relating to their seniority, including the benefits associated with the level they would have achieved had they continued work.
4. Right to continue health plan
The employee may elect to continue coverage for the lesser of the following two periods:
· The 24-month period from the day leave begins
· The day after the employee failed but was required to apply for reemployment.
If the leave of absence was for less than 31 days, any health benefits must continue and the employee might not be required to pay a premium higher than the employee share. If the leave was for 31 days or more, health benefits will continue, but the employee may be required to pay up to the full premium.
Those are some of the laws and policies regarding military leave in California. If you work as a military in California, you should be aware of these rights.
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