Military Leave
Policy: Military Leave
Effective Date: July 1, 2002
Policy Applies to: Faculty, Administrators and Non-Unionized Staff
Replaces and Supercedes Policy No. 405.4 dated 01/01/88, revised 08/01/1996
Policy
Seton Hall University supports the rights and obligations of its employees
to serve in the armed forces of the United States in accordance with the
Uniformed Services and Employment and Reemployment Act of 1994 (USERRA) and New
Jersey law. This policy applies to employees who volunteer or are ordered to
serve in the Armed Forces, the Army National Guard and the Air National Guard
when engaged in active duty, active duty for training or inactive duty training.
It also applies to full-time National Guard duty, the commissioned corps of the
Public Health Service and absence from work for an examination to determine
fitness for any of these types of duty. This policy shall also apply to eligible
employees who participate in assemblies or annual training or attend service
schools conducted by the Armed Forces for a period or periods up to and
including three (3) months during any four (4) year period and who apply for
reemployment within 10 days of completion of such training or service. Leave to
perform such service will be designated as military leave.
Eligibility
Full-time and part-time benefits eligible
faculty, administrators and non-unionized staff are covered by this policy.
Temporary workers, adjunct faculty, consultants, leased and/or contracted
workers and any other individuals who are hired for a brief, non-recurrent
period and who are not listed above are not eligible for military leave
benefits.
Military leave for faculty members shall also be governed by the applicable
faculty guide. Military leave for staff covered by a collective bargaining
agreement shall be governed by the applicable collective bargaining agreement.
Notification
An employee who will be absent from work
because of military service shall give advance written notice of such service to
the Department of Human Resources. An employee should submit a copy of his/her
military orders to the Department of Human Resources and his/her supervisor at
least 30 days prior to the time the leave is to begin.
Compensation
An employee may use any vacation or floating
holiday leave accrued prior to the commencement of service. For any unpaid leave
or portion thereof taken for military service, an employee will be compensated
for the difference between his or her regular University base pay and military
pay while on military leave as follows:
- Up to one year of active employment with Seton Hall University– up to two weeks pay differential.
- Between one and up to five years of active employment with Seton Hall University – up to three months pay differential.
Five or more years of active employment with Seton Hall
University - up to six months pay differential.
In order to receive a salary differential, the employee must present a
certified government accounting of compensation to the Department of Human
Resources within 14 days of returning to work.
During the leave period, the employee is not entitled to receive other
compensation from the University (including holiday pay) unless the employee has
elected to use paid leave during the period of military leave.
Upon reemployment, an employee is entitled to seniority and other rights and
benefits determined by seniority that the employee had on the date of
commencement of service plus the additional seniority and rights and benefits
that the employee would have attained if she/he had remained continuously
employed. Subject to certain exceptions, the employee who is on military leave
is entitled to such other rights and benefits not determined by seniority as are
generally provided to employees on unpaid leave of absence.
Pension Plan
An employee will receive credit while on
military leave towards meeting length-of-service requirements for eligibility
for retirement benefits. Employer pension contributions will be made based on
the salary differential paid to the employee during military leave, unless the
employee has elected to use paid leave during the period of military leave.
Health Benefits
The University will maintain the same health
plan coverage for an employee on military leave for up to 30 days. After 30
days, the employee has the option of continuing the same health plan coverage
for up to 18 months, during which period the employee will be responsible for
the cost of the entire premium.
Reinstatement
The University will reinstate eligible
employees under the following conditions:
- Advance written or verbal notice must have been given to the University of the impending service, unless precluded by military necessity or was otherwise impossible or unreasonable.
- An employee’s cumulative period of absence from the University for military leave does not exceed five years, with limited exceptions as defined by the law.
- An employee must have been discharged or released from service under “honorable conditions” and must present a certificate of satisfactory completion of service.
An employee returning from service must apply for
reemployment within 90 days of being relieved from his/her service obligations.
There are certain exceptions to the requirement to reemploy a returning
service member. These include the following:
- The University’s circumstances have so changed as to make such reemployment impossible or unreasonable;
- The individual has incurred a disability or aggravated a disability during such service, and, after reasonable efforts to accommodate the disability, is no longer qualified due to such disability and cannot be re-qualified and rehired without imposing an undue hardship upon the University; or
- The original employment was short term with no reasonable expectation of continued employment.