If your firm is among the thousands of American companies that employ one or more of the hundreds of thousands of American military reservists, you need to read this letter. Given the events of September 11 and the aftermath, you should familiarize yourself with state and federal laws governing the rights of military reservists who are called to active duty, and the obligations of those who employ them. This alert is intended to give employers an overview of these rights and obligations under Federal and New Jersey law. If you employ reservists in other states, contact us for information about those specific state laws.

All employers must grant each reservist a leave of absence throughout the period in which the reservist is in active service. Leave must include an additional three (3) months in which to return to work following release from active duty or following recovery from injury when injured at war. Reservists must provide advance written or verbal notice to their employers for all military duty unless giving notice is impossible, unreasonable, or precluded by military necessity.

Private and most public employers (except the State and Federal governments) are not required to pay employees absent on military leave and need not make pension contributions on their behalf. Health insurance benefits may be terminated, subject to benefit continuation rights under COBRA and reinstatement upon the employee’s return to work. All other benefits are frozen at their current level as of the start of the leave. Thus, for example, if an employee accrued 10 days of vacation prior to his/her military leave, he/she will have those same 10 days accrued upon return from leave. Also, employers do not have to extend individual employment contracts beyond their stated expiration date.

Provided that the reservist is honorably discharged, applies for reemployment and returns to work before the end of the additional three (3) month period, he/she will be entitled to reinstatement with full seniority, stature, pay and vacation benefits appropriate to his/her position without regard to any waiting periods. The employer must make reasonable efforts, such as providing training and retraining, to enable returning reservists to refresh or upgrade their skills to help them qualify for reemployment. If a reservist incurs a disability due to combat and cannot perform the position he/she held before active service, the employer must offer an alternative position with status, pay and benefits that are comparable to the reservist’s original position.

Employees must receive employment service credit for time spent on active duty for purposes of seniority and retirement benefits. The cumulative length of time that a reservist may be absent from work for military duty and retain reemployment rights is five years.