Policies

Purpose/Goal:

Florida Institute of Technology grants military leaves of absence in accordance with federal, state and local law with advance written or verbal notice of service from the employee.  Additionally, Florida Institute of Technology reinstates employees returning from a military leave in accordance with the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 ("USERRA") and/or other applicable law.

Notice of Leave:

Unless military necessity prevents it, or is otherwise impossible or unreasonable, an employee should provide their manager or the Office of Human Resources with notice of the need for military leave as far in advance as is reasonable under the circumstances.

Unless military necessity prevents it, an employee should provide their manager or the Office of Human Resources with notice of the need for military leave as far in advance as is reasonable under the circumstances. Military orders or appropriate documentation must be sent to the supervisor/manager for any armed forces duty assignment.  If no written orders are available, the employee should provide the department with written notification (Military Leave Request Form) and forward a copy of the official orders within thirty (30) calendar days of the start of the leave. If written orders are unavailable within the thirty (30) day timeframe, a letter from the employee's Commanding Officer is requested. The letter should include the start date, the expected date of return, name and telephone number of the commanding officer as well as the employee's rank and duty station.

Type of Leave Covered:

Military leave will be granted to employees who are in the United States Armed Forces, Reserve Forces, or the National Guard and are required to serve or who are absent due to sickness, wounds, or other lawful cause as a result of the service. Copies of orders shall accompany each Leave Request.

Uniformed service includes active duty, active duty for training, inactive duty training (such as drills), initial active duty training, and funeral honors duty performed by National Guard and reserve members, as well as the period for which a person is absent from a position of employment for the purpose of an examination to determine fitness to perform any such duty.

Scope:

USERRA protects civilian job rights and benefits for veterans and members of the active and reserve components of the U.S. armed forces if those servicemembers meet five criteria:

1. The employee must be absent from Florida Institute of Technology on account of service in the uniformed services;
2. The employee must give advance notice to Florida Institute of Technology that he or she was leaving the job for service in the uniformed services, unless such notice was precluded by military necessity or otherwise impossible or unreasonable;
3. The cumulative period of military service with Florida Institute of Technology must not exceed five years;
4. The employee must not have been released from service under dishonorable or other punitive conditions; and
5. The employee must report back to Florida Institute of Technology in a timely manner or have submitted a timely application for reemployment, unless timely reporting back or application was impossible or unreasonable.

Any employee of the College who has completed one day of regular employment and who is drafted for military service or who volunteers for service in any branch of the Armed Forces of the United States, shall, upon completion of such service, be reinstated to employment with the College in accordance with the applicable laws regulating such matters. Temporary and casual employees are not eligible for employment with reinstatement rights.

Procedures:

Military Leave is unpaid.  Employees do not accrue sick/vacation time nor are they eligible for holiday pay while on military leave.

Time served on active duty counts toward determining an employee's leave accrual rate upon return from active duty.

Contact Human Resources when there is a need for military leave for military training or a need to leave current position for service in the uniformed services, unless such notice was precluded by military necessity or otherwise impossible or unreasonable.

The Office of Human Resources will, upon the employee's reapplication for employment, request that the employee provide Florida Institute of Technology with military discharge documentation to establish the timeliness of the application for reemployment, the duration of the military service, and the honorable discharge from the military service, if applicable.

Employees must apply for reemployment within a timely manner as indicated in the table above. In addition to the employee's failure to apply for reemployment in a timely manner, an employee is not entitled to reinstatement as described above if any of the following conditions exist:

• Florida Tech's circumstances have so changed as to make reemployment impossible or unreasonable
• Reemployment would pose an undue hardship upon Florida Tech.
• The employee's employment prior to the military service was merely for a brief, non-recurrent period and there was no reasonable expectation that the employment would have continued indefinitely or for a significant period.
• The employee did not receive an honorable discharge from military service.

If an employee fails to apply for reemployment and/or or does not return to work at the expiration of USERRA provision, Florida Tech will consider the employee to have voluntarily resigned their position. An employee is not entitled to reinstatement as described above if any of the following conditions exist: 

• Florida Tech's circumstances have so changed as to make reemployment impossible or unreasonable
• Reemployment would pose an undue hardship upon Florida Tech.
• The employee's employment prior to the military service was merely for a brief, non-recurrent period and there was no reasonable expectation that the employment would have continued indefinitely or for a significant period. 
• The employee did not receive an honorable discharge from military service. 

Nothing in this policy should be considered as a contract of employment. The provisions of this policy are subject to change in accordance with federal, state and local laws.