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AG spells out servicemen’s job rights
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Posted on Apr 19 2006
Commonwealth employees doing military service are entitled to reemployment benefits and other rights given to other personnel on non-military leave of absence, the Attorney General’s Office maintained.
Attorney General Matthew T. Gregory issued the legal opinion at the request of the Office of Personnel Management.
He stressed that the federal Uniformed Services Employment and Re-employment Act, or USERRA, protects the employment and benefits of employees on extended military leave.
The CNMI’s Public Service System Rules and Regulations reaffirm the USERRA, he added.
“Commonwealth employees placed on extended military leave are generally entitled to reemployment with seniority and seniority benefits to which the employment would have been entitled had he not been absent for military service, health and pension plan protection, and the same rights and benefits accorded to other individuals on non-military furlough or leave of absence,” Gregory said.
“USERRA generally provides that returning service members are entitled to be re-employed in the job that they would have attained had they not been absent for military service, with the same seniority, status and pay, as well as other rights and benefits determined by seniority,” he added.
He added that an employee on military leave of absence may be paid for up to 15 working days in any calendar year.
However, a person is not entitled to pay for the period of time he is on extended military leave. He also does not accrue annual leave or sick leave during the extended military leave period, Gregory said.
