The Office of Personnel Management has issued final regulations defining the reemployment rights of federal employees called to temporary duty in the military.
The rules put into effect the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994, which clarified the thousands of court decisions and statutory amendments that previously defined reemployment rights for federal civilian employees.
Under the new rules, which go into effect July 12, employees who leave full-time federal jobs to go on active duty in one of the uniformed services are entitled to reassume their duties upon their return. If the military duty is less than 91 days, the worker must be reemployed in his or her job as if the absence never occurred. However, if the duty lasts more than 90 days, the employee can be placed in the same job or an equivalent position.
If an agency is closed or for some other reason is unable to reemploy a returning temporary service member, the new law requires OPM to find that person another job in an executive branch agency.
Employees are not eligible for guaranteed placement if they are kicked out of the military for reasons within their control, such as misconduct or failure to meet weight requirements.
Agencies are required, however, to make reasonable efforts to accommodate disabled veterans upon their return to work. Returning employees have up to two years to recover from injuries sustained while on duty before returning to their old jobs. In addition, the rules require agencies to make reasonable efforts, such as providing training or retraining, to enable returning employees to upgrade their skills if necessary.
For the first time, the new rules require employees to provide advance written notice to their agencies of absence for military service. The rules also stipulate that employees can be absent from their jobs for up to five years over the life of their careers, to make it clear the protections are for non-career service only, OPM said.