Reviewing Military Leave Policies

In the wake of the September 11th attacks, U.S. employers have been deciding how to handle military leave issues. While most large companies had a leave policy in place before the attacks, many have been considering revising their policies in recent weeks. Several surveys suggest that many employers are showing military reservists and their families generosity in these uncertain days, often above and beyond what they've offered in the past.
One recent survey was conducted by Watson Wyatt Worldwide and includes responses from 51 employers representing about half a million full-time workers. It found that 80% of responding companies had formal compensation policies in place for workers called to active duty, and 74% had medical benefit policies. In addition, another 10% were considering implementing a formal pay policy, and 14% were considering a medical benefit policy. In terms of medical coverage, 47% said they'll offer reservists and their dependents more than is required by federal law.
The most common pay policy is differential pay. Sixty percent of Watson Wyatt respondents said they will, at least for some period, provide pay that makes up the difference between regular and military pay. Forty- eight percent said they'll provide such differential pay for a specified period of time, and 12% said they'll provide it for an indefinite period at management's discretion. Six percent said they'll provide full pay for a specified time, 14% hadn't yet decided, 10% said they wouldn't provide pay, and another 10% said they had other pay plans.
The Watson Wyatt findings are fairly consistent with HRI's own survey data. At the request of an HRI member organization looking for benchmarking information, HRI sent out an informal e-mail survey asking other members about their paid leave policies. Although the sample was small (15 organizations, all with 1,000 or more employees), these findings also suggest that differential pay is a common strategy, used by 12 of these companies and being considered by two others. Yet, the amount of time that companies plan to provide such pay varies. One firm reported, "Normally we do not pay for military leave, but we will this time. We will initially pay for 30 days and then reevaluate an extension for another 30 days so we have some control over it."
Other companies are committing to longer periods of time, ranging from three months to "the duration." Two will provide differential pay for up to six months, four will provide such pay up to a year, and one simply states, "We will provide 'differential' pay for the duration of the involuntary leave period."
Some companies may create a policy unique to the current crisis. One responding firm typically does not provide pay to employees called to active duty but, in this case, is considering continuing benefit coverage and providing differential pay for up to a year. The respondent writes, "We would probably call this our 9/11 policy - to emphasize its uniqueness and still leave the former policy in place."
In fact, the willingness to be more generous at this time applies to many companies, suggests a survey conducted by international outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. It found that 30% of the 200 companies it surveyed said they were upgrading their military leave policies. "That's encouraging," reports the Washington Post, "given that only 7% of those surveyed said they had an existing policy of paying employees the difference between their regular and military pay." This time around, most large companies are exceeding the legal requirements for military leave, found the survey. "There's a lot more patriotism that has been unleashed by this set of events than there was during the Gulf War," says John A. Challenger, the firm's CEO.
For many firms, this is the first time in recent memory they've reviewed their military leave policies. "So this is a monumental shift," says Mark McNulty, president of consulting firm HR Dimensions. "If a company hasn't already decided to make up the difference in pay, they are at least in the process of reviewing their policies to see what they can do."
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For more information on HRI's survey, please contact HRI's manager of member services, Milburn Lane.
For more information on the Watson Wyatt survey, please see
http://www.watsonwyatt.com/homepage/us/new/featured/survey_results.asp
For an article on the financial hardships faced by many of the families of those in the Guard and Reserves, please see
http://seattlep-i.nwsource.com/money/42583_singletary15.shtml
For an article on what specific companies are doing, please see
http://www.csmonitor.com/2001/1001/p20s1-wmcr.html
Other information on what companies are doing is at
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/business/DailyNews/reserve_benefits_010926.html
The U.S. Department of Labor provides information on the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) at
http://www.dol.gov/elaws/userra0.htm
The National Committee for Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve answers employers' questions about USERRA. See
http://www.esgr.org/faqemployers.html
Information about recent calls to active duty can be found at
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Oct2001/b10232001_bt535-01.html