Human Resource Blog

USERRA Five Year Limits in Idaho

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What are the exemptions to the five-year USERRA rule in Idaho?

The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act is a federal Act that is in place for employers and employees in states across the country, including employers and employees in the state of Idaho. When an employee needs to take time away from work in order to fulfill a military duty in any branch of the U.S. Armed Forces, the employee is covered by USERRA for that time off.

In order for an employee to maintain eligibility, the employee needs to return to work within a time period that is determined by USERRA based on the length of the employee’s service. Also, the employee cannot serve for more than five years in most cases. However, there are some exceptions to the five year limit. Those exceptions may include the following:

·         If the initial period of enlistment lasts for more than five years, the employee may be able to take additional time away from work that is not included within the five year limit.

·         The employee may also be able to serve for more than five years if he or she has been called for involuntary duty or if the duty has been extended or recalled.

·         Employees may be able to take additional time off for National Guard and reserve training.

·         Employees may also be able to have extra time to return to work if they have been injured or disabled. This time to return to work could be extended for up to two additional years.

·         Also, employees could be able to take more time off during a period of a national emergency.

In addition to keeping the service to less than five years, in most cases, employees also need to ensure that they are not dishonorably discharged from service if they wish to keep their USERRA coverage. USERRA applies to employees that held civilian jobs.

As long as employees follow all the guidelines for USERRA coverage, they should be able to return to work at the end of their military leave to have the same job or an equivalent job to the one that they left behind in order to serve. They should also receive the same pay and benefits. CB