Takeaway: This case shows that, when in doubt about the application of the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA), an employer should err on the side of treating employees on military leave at least as favorably as workers on other types of leave.
The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed summary judgment for a group of police officers serving as military reservists who, during leaves of absence for active-duty service, did not receive the same benefits as other city employees who were on nonmilitary leave. The court held that, by treating the officers differently from the other employees in this manner, the city violated the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA), which requires that employees on military leave receive the same benefits as similarly situated employees on comparable forms of leave.
The city had a policy under which employees could accrue paid leave and paid holidays, but only while on paid status. An employee was on paid status so long as the employee was either on the city payroll or using a paid type of leave. An employee on unpaid leave did not accrue these benefits.
One type of leave the city offered was military leave, which was paid up to 168 hours. After exhausting those hours, the employee would no longer be paid and would need to take unpaid leave or use other available forms of accrued paid leave.
The city also offered paid administrative leave, which served various purposes, including...
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