Most Employers Offering Pay During Military Leave

January 28, 2003 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Sixty-six percent of employers offer some form of compensation to their employees called up to serve in the National Guard or military reserves.

Twenty-six percent of all employers offered full pay to employees who get called to duty, 40% offered differential pay (the difference between salary/wages and military pay) and 35% of all employers offerd no pay at all, according to data release from the 2003 Survey of Employee Benefits conducted by Business & Legal Reports (BLR)

Further, the study found between 60% and 70% of employers do not have a limit on what they pay employees called to duty. Not surprisingly, this figure varied only slightly by region, with the report indicating only 57% of employers in the Northeast offering no ceiling, the least in this category.   By industry, 74% of health firms, 69% of retail/wholesale firms and 68% of manufacturing firms reported having no limit.

Alexandra Gross, an attorney with BLR said many employers are unfamiliar with the laws surrounding the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA).   USERRA leave, as well as leave under many state military leave laws, is unpaid.Yet, as results of the survey show, most employers do compensate employees on military leave.

BLR conducts the Employee Benefits Survey annually. The report can be obtained through BLR’s Web site www.blr.com .

«