Utah Military Leave, Reserve Leave and Licence Protections for Employees

Four sections of chapter 71A-8 that protect an employee's pay, job, licence and insurance across a period of military service. They are separate provisions with different reach, and the differences matter. Fifteen days of paid military leave, mandatory for the state and optional for local government. Section 71A-8-102, subsection 1: "All state employees who are members of the organized reserve of the United States armed forces, including the National Guard of this state, shall be allowed full pay for all time not in excess of 15 days per year spent fulfilling the service requirements of the armed forces... This leave shall be in addition to any annual vacation leave with pay to which an employee may be entitled." Subsection 2 uses different words for local government: county and municipal employees "may be allowed up to full pay" for the same 15 days, and the leave "is at the discretion of the employing county or municipality and, if granted, shall be in addition to annual vacation leave with pay." So a state employee has an entitlement and a city employee has a possibility. If you work for a county or city, ask for the written policy. What any of them may add. Subsection 3 lets the governor, counties and municipal agencies adopt ordinances, exceptions, rules or policies that "(a) provide more than 15 days of paid military leave; (b) provide for differential pay that compensates the difference, if any, between the service member's civilian pay and military pay, not to include allowances; and (c) extend health, dental, vision, disability, and life insurance benefits to members of the National Guard and reserves activated for more than 30 days." Differential pay and continued family insurance are the two that matter most on a long activation, and both are permissive. Whether your employer offers them is a question about your employer's policy, not about the statute. Ask before you deploy. Five years of leave for any reserve member, public or private. Section 71A-8-105, subsection 1: "Any member of a reserve component of the armed forces of the United States who, pursuant to military orders, enters active duty, active duty for training, inactive duty training, or state active duty shall, upon request, be granted a leave of absence from employment, but for no more than five years." Note the breadth of the triggers: inactive duty training, which is ordinary drill, is on the list. Subsection 2 gives Utah National Guard and State Defense Force members ordered to state military service by the governor "the same rights and protections as provided by federal law for activation to federal military service" for up to five years of state service. Subsection 3 does the same for general officers appointed to state employment, and lifts the five-year cap for them. Subsection 4 covers the return: on satisfactory release from state or federal orders, or from hospitalisation incidental to them, the member "shall be permitted to return to the prior employment and have the same rights and protections as provided by federal law for activation to federal military service as it pertains to seniority, status, pay, and vacation the member would have had as an employee if the member had not been absent for military purposes." And the penalty, which reaches private employers. Subsection 5: "Any employer who willfully deprives an employee who is absent as a member under this chapter of any of the benefits under this chapter or discriminates in hiring for any employment position, public or private, based on membership in any reserve component of the armed forces, is guilty of a class B misdemeanor." Read that twice. Discrimination in hiring on the basis of reserve membership, in any position public or private, is a crime in Utah. Few states criminalise it. A licence that expires while you are activated. Section 71A-8-103 covers "any license issued under Title 58, Occupations and Professions" and "a license for emergency medical personnel". A licence held by a National Guard or reserve member that expires while the member is on state or federal active duty "is extended until 90 days after the member is discharged from active duty status", and a licence that expires while a service member is deployed is extended "for 90 days after the last date of the deployment listed on the service member's deployment order". Then the renewal terms, in subsection 4: the licensing agency "shall renew a license extended under Subsection (2) or (3)... at no cost to the service member" if the member requests renewal within 90 days after the termination of the orders, provides copies of the orders calling them to duty and discharging them, and "meets all the requirements necessary for the renewal of the license, except the member or reservist need not meet the requirements, if any, that relate to continuing education or training." Free renewal and no continuing education for that cycle. That is a real saving for a nurse, a therapist or an emergency medical technician coming off a mobilisation. The exclusions are the trap. Subsection 5: the section does not apply "(a) to regularly scheduled annual training; (b) in-state active National Guard and reserve orders; or (c) orders that do not require the service member to relocate outside of this state." So annual training does not extend a licence, and neither does an activation that keeps you in Utah. The protection is aimed at service that takes you out of the state. Professional liability insurance while you are gone. Section 71A-8-104 applies to a person ordered to state or federal military service other than training who was furnishing health care services or other professional services and held a professional liability policy that will not cover claims during the service period unless premiums are paid. On the service member's written request the carrier "shall" suspend coverage; it "may not require that premiums be paid" for the suspended period and "shall refund any amount paid for coverage for the period of the suspension" or apply it to the reinstatement premium. Reinstatement is on written request transmitted within 30 days after the military service terminates, the carrier must notify the member of the premium due date, and the member pays within 30 days of that notice. The reinstated period must be at least the balance of what would have remained, and subsection 7 forbids the carrier from raising the premium above the pre-suspension amount except for a general increase applied to everyone with the same coverage. The trade-off is in subsection 4: the carrier is not liable for any claim based on professional conduct during the suspension. And a claim based on a failure to make adequate provision for patients to be cared for during the military service is treated as arising before the suspension began, so that particular exposure is not left uncovered.