Is the Army Reserve Soldier or National Guard member required to provide me a copy of his or her military orders, when he or she gives me notice of an upcoming period of service?
[4/25/2005]
No. USERRA imposes no such requirement. We (ESGR) recommend that National Guard and Reserve personnel provide to their employers such documentation as is readily available. If you have any questions, you may call the member’s commanding officer. If the member will not provide you that information, please call us (ESGR) at 1-800-336-4590.
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I have an employee who takes a lot of time off for military training and service. Now, she has asked for time off for a time that is particularly inconvenient for me. Am I permitted to veto her request for military leave?
[4/13/2005]
No. 38 U.S.C. 4312(h). She is only required to give you notice, not to obtain your permission. You have no right to veto the timing, frequency, duration, etc. You are permitted to contact the Commanding Officer. It is Department of Defense (DOD) policy that the Commanding Officer should work with you to resolve conflicts of this kind. The Commanding Officer will accede to your reasonable request to reschedule military training, unless doing so would detract from unit readiness and mission accomplishment. Law Review 30.
If the timing of this training period presents a real problem for you, the Commanding Officer will try to adjust the schedule for you, but please understand that such rescheduling must be kept to a minimum. National Guard and Reserve units train together, and they must go to war together. The training periods are scheduled so that the unit can be trained together. If an individual unit member undergoes training at a different time, it is likely to be impossible to replicate the training that the rest of the unit received. As a result, the individual unit member may not be able to perform some critical task, resulting in additional casualties and endangering the accomplishment of the mission.
Under the “Total Force Policy,” our nation is more dependent than ever before upon the National Guard and Reserve for essential military readiness. The National Guard and Reserve make up almost half of the total pool of available military personnel.
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Am I permitted to make the employee-reservist find a replacement for the time that he or she will be away from work performing service?
[4/13/2005]
No. The employee is responsible for giving you advance notice, if possible, but not for rearranging his or her schedule or finding a replacement. |
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