Military Leave Policy -Glossary
Return to Military Leave Policy Table of Contents
Including Uniformed Services Employment & Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) and the California Military & Veterans Code (CMVA)
Revised: April 2014
- Active Duty
- 10 USC Section 101 defines “active duty” as full-time duty in the active military service of the United States. Such term includes full-time training duty, annual training duty, and attendance, while in the active military service, at a school designated as a service school by law or by the Secretary of the military department concerned. An employee whose leave exceeds 180 days may remain on active duty as long as ordered and still be entitled to all restoration rights under the law.
- Active Duty Training
- A federally ordered exercise in which the participants receive official orders and are actually called to active duty and paid by the Federal Government.
- Calendar Days
- The number of working hours the employee would ordinarily work during 30 calendar days. These calendar days can be taken within each fiscal year (July 1-June 30). For example, the County uses a base of 2080 hours per year for a 1.0 FTE, which translates to 173 working hours in an average month (2080 divided by 12 months equals 173 working hours). The working hours are then converted to calendar days based on the employee’s work schedule; those calendar days, can be taken anytime during the fiscal year. The number of working hours would be prorated for employees working less than 1.0 FTE and then converted to calendar days based on the employee’s regular work schedule.
- Calendar Days Calculation – Extra Help
- To determine the number of calendar days for extra help employees, take the average number of hours worked during the past 12 pay-periods. If the employee has not worked for 12 pay-periods, then use the average from the number of pay-periods worked.
- Calendar Days Calculation – Part-Time Employees
- To determine the number of calendar days for part-time employees, use their allocated FTE. A 1.0 FTE is 2,080 hours per year; prorate to the appropriate FTE and calculate. For example, a .5 FTE would be 1,040 hours per year (2,080 hours times .5 equals 1,040 hours), which is 87 hours in an average month and then converted to calendar days based on the employee’s regular work schedule.
- Domestic Partners
- Shall exist between two persons, one of whom is an employee of the County, regardless of their gender and each of them shall be the “domestic partner” of the other if they both complete, sign, and cause to be filed with the County an “Affidavit of Domestic Partnership” attesting to the following:
- the two parties reside together and share the common necessities of life;
- the two parties are not married to anyone, eighteen years or older, not related by blood closer than would bar marriage in the State of California, and mentally competent to consent to contract and are not acting under fraud or duress;
- the two parties declare that they are each others sole domestic partner and they are responsible for their common welfare;
- the two parties agree to notify the County in writing if there is a change of circumstances attested to the affidavit; and Military Leave Policy FINAL April 2014.doc 16
- the two parties affirm, under penalty of perjury, that the assertions in the affidavit are true to the best of their knowledge.
- Fiscal Year
- County’s fiscal year is twelve months from July 1 through June 30.
- Full Pay Status
- Employee’s regular rate, plus cash allowance and pay premiums normally received.
- Inactive Duty Training
- Training such as “weekend drills” where the employee is not ordered to active duty, or active duty training by the Federal Government. The term “inactive duty training” as defined by 37 USC Section 101 (22) means – (A) duty prescribed for members of a reserve component by the Secretary concerned under section 206 of this title or any other law; and (B) special additional duties authorized for members of a reserve component by an authority designated by the Secretary concerned and performed by them on a voluntary basis in connection with the prescribed training or maintenance activities by them on a voluntary basis in connection with the prescribed training or maintenance activities of the units to which they are assigned; and includes those duties when performed by members of a reserve component in their status as members of the National Guard, but (except as provided in section 206(d)(2) of this title) does not include work or study in connection with a correspondence course of a uniformed service.
- Injured or seriously ill service member or veteran
- For a current servicemember, a serious injury or illness is one that was incurred by a servicemember in the line of duty on active duty that may render the servicemember medically unfit to perform the duties of his or her office, grade, rank, or rating. A serious injury or illness also includes injuries or illnesses that existed before the servicemember’s active duty and that were aggravated by
service in the line of duty on active duty. For a veteran, a serious injury or illness is one that was incurred by the veteran in the line of duty on active duty in the Armed Forces or that existed before the veteran’s active duty and was aggravated by service in the line of duty on active duty, and that is either:
- a continuation of a serious injury or illness that was incurred or aggravated when the veteran was a member of the Armed Forces and rendered the servicemember unable to perform the duties of the servicemember’s office, grade, rank, or rating; or
- a physical or mental condition for which the veteran has received a Department of Veterans Affairs Service-Related Disability Rating (VASRD) of 50 percent or greater. (The rating may be based on multiple conditions).
- a physical or mental condition that substantially impairs the veteran’s ability to work because of a disability or disabilities related to military service, or would do so absent treatment; or
- an injury that is the basis for the veteran’s enrollment in the Department of Veterans Affairs Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers. Any one of these definitions meets the FMLA’s definition of a serious injury or illness for a veteran regardless of whether the injury or illness manifested Military Leave Policy FINAL April 2014.doc 17 before or after the individual became a veteran.
- Military Leave
- Military duty ordered for the purpose of military action, training, drills, encampments, naval cruises, special exercises or like activity.
- Next of Kin
- Next of kin is the nearest blood relative, other than the spouse, domestic partner, parent, son or daughter, in the following order of priority:
- a blood relative who has been designated in writing by the servicemember for purposes of FMLA military caregiver leave
- blood relatives who have been granted legal custody of the servicemember
- brothers and sisters
- grandparents
- aunts and uncles
- first cousins
- Paid Military Leave
- Full pay and benefits including vacation and sick leave accruals. Limited to 30 calendar days in any one fiscal year. However, an employee is not eligible for this benefit in succeeding fiscal years when the active duty time continues into the next fiscal year.
- Parent, son or daughter for purposes of Military FMLA
- Parent means a biological, adoptive, step or foster father or mother, or any other individual who stood in loco parentis to you when you were a child. This term does not include parents “in law.” Son or daughter for qualifying exigency leave means your biological, adopted, or foster child, a stepchild, a legal ward , or a child for whom you stood in loco parentis, and who is of any age.
- Reasonable Efforts
- Actions, including training provided by the County that do not place an undue hardship on the County.
- Reemployment Application
- Verbal or written notice to the County of an employee’s intent to return to work, including the employee’s date of return. In situations where the employee’s position is no longer available and the County must designate a “like” position. An employment application to determine appropriate classifications for placement may be necessary.
- Seniority
- Longevity in employment together with any benefits of employment which accrue with, or are determined by, longevity.
- Temporary Military Leave
- A leave of absence from public employment to engage in ordered military duty for a period which by the order is not to exceed 180 calendar days, including travel time, for purposes of active military training, encampment, navel cruises, special exercises or like activity as a member of the reserve corps or force of the Armed Forces of the United States, or the National Guard, or the Navel Militia.
- Undue Hardship
- An action requiring significant difficulty or expense, when considered in light of such factors as (1) the nature and cost of the action and (2) the overall financial resources and size of the County; the number of County employees; the effect on expenses and resources or the impact of such action upon the County operations; and the type of operations of the County, etc.
- Uniformed Services
- The Armed Forces (Army, Navy, Marine Corp, Air Force, Coast Guard), the Army National Guard and the Air National Guard when engaged in active duty for training, inactive duty training, or full-time National Guard duty, the commissioned corps of the Public Health Service, and any other category of persons designated by the President in time of war or national emergency.