Formerly Known As Policy Number: 22.17
The Uniformed Service Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 ("USERRA") prohibits employers from discriminating against employees who fulfill non-career military obligations in the Uniformed Services. It also requires employers to provide a leave of absence to allow employees to perform military obligations. Separately, the Family Medical Leave Act ("FMLA") and California Family Rights Act ("CFRA") entitles eligible employees to take leave for a "qualifying exigency" when a covered family member is called to active duty and FLMA entitles eligible employees to take leave to care for a covered family member who is injured in the line of duty.
This policy provides military leaves as required by these and other laws and complies with the other relevant provisions of USERRA, other related regulations or as approved by Stanford University.
Applicability:
Applies to all regular staff as defined in Guide Memo 2.2.1 (https://adminguide.stanford.edu/chapters/human-resources/general-employment-policies/definitions): Definitions, Academic Staff-Research, and Academic Staff-Libraries. For policies that apply to employees covered by a collective bargaining agreement, refer to the agreements at Labor Relations & Collective Bargaining (https://cardinalatwork.stanford.edu/hr-processes-policies/labor-relations-collective-bargaining).
An employee who voluntarily enters military service or is called to active duty for an extended period will have reinstatement rights to their current position if these requirements are met:
Contact your local Human Resources office with any questions about this information.
Under California law, up to 10 days of unpaid leave is available to eligible employees who are spouses/domestic partners of deployed members of the military when the military spouse/domestic partner is on leave from deployment during a time of military conflict.
To be eligible for this form of leave, an employee must work an average of 20 or more hours per week and be the spouse or domestic partner of a "qualified member" of the United States Armed Forces, National Guard, or Reserves. A "qualified member" is a member of the United States Armed Forces who has been deployed during a period of military conflict. The employee also must provide:
Qualifying emergency leave allows eligible employees (see 4.b) to use some or all of their 12-week FMLA/CFRA leave entitlement for an emergency due to a family member's active duty or call to active duty in any branch of the U.S. Armed Forces. Armed Forces include National Guard and Reserves. Qualifying emergencies are defined by regulation and include issues arising from a short-notice deployment, military events, child care, school activities, financial or legal arrangements, counseling, rest and recuperation, post-deployment activities, or any issue the University and employee agree to designate as a qualifying emergency.
Military caregiver leave allows eligible employees (see 4.b) up to 26 weeks of job-protected FMLA leave in a rolling 12-month period that begins on the verified FMLA start date to care for a covered family member who is a member of the Armed Forces and who:
Service member means veterans and current members of the U.S. Armed Forces including the National Guard or Reserves.
Eligible employees may request caregiver leave to care for a veteran who:
NOTE: This leave entitlement does not increase the amount of time an employee can be off work for FMLA/CFRA reasons, except that up to 26 weeks of unpaid leave is available to care for an injured service member during a 12-month period.
For example, if an employee has used 12 weeks of FMLA/CFRA leave for the birth of a child, the employee is not entitled to an additional 12 weeks of leave within that 12-month period to deal with exigent circumstances arising from a family member's call to active duty. But, the employee would be entitled to up to another 12 weeks (for a total of 26 weeks combined) to care for a covered family member who is injured in the line of duty.
Employees on unpaid leave for Military Service (MIL) will have the same University benefit contributions as when actively employed. The employee will be billed for the employee portion of the costs on an after-tax basis on the 7th and 22nd of each month.
When an employee receives adjusted pay upon return from Military Leave, retirement savings plan benefit accruals and/or contributions will be made, subject to plan provisions.
Time on Leave for Military Services counts toward official retiree medical eligibility.
A regular employee whose University employment is terminated while the employee is on Military Leave may continue medical and dental coverages at their own expense through COBRA for 18 months.
Life insurance portability or conversion to an individual plan is available. The individual should contact Stanford Benefits at the time of termination for the appropriate forms.