Utah Reemployment Rights for a Public Officer or Employee After Military Service

Federal law already protects reemployment through USERRA. This section is Utah's own, it applies to public officers and employees, and in three respects it is more specific and more favourable than a general reading of the federal scheme. The leave. Section 71A-8-101, subsection 2: "A public officer who enters state or federal active service in any branch of the armed forces of this state or of the United States shall be granted a leave of absence not to exceed five years during that service." "Public officer" means the same as in section 67-16-3. State active service is covered as well as federal, which matters for a Utah National Guard member called out by the governor. The restoration, and two clocks. Subsection 3: the person "shall be restored to the same position, or to a position equivalent to the same position, which the person held immediately prior to the commencement of active military service." Then: "A request for restoration of employment under this section must be submitted within 40 days after release from active service," and "Restoration of employment shall be made within 20 days after submission of the request to the employer." Forty days for you, twenty days for them. The 40-day deadline is the one to diary on the day you are released. The year of protection after you come back. Subsection 3, paragraph (d): "A person returning from active military service may not, without cause, be discharged or subjected to reduction of compensation for a period of one year following a return to employment under this section." A year of protection against both discharge and a pay cut, and the standard is cause. What you keep and what you accrue. Subsection 4: the returning person "shall retain all personal, sick, and other leave to which the person was entitled immediately prior to the commencement of active military service"; "shall receive and earn benefits and compensation at a level not less than that to which the person would have been entitled had the officer or employee not been absent"; and "may not be prejudiced, by the preservice employer or that employer's successor in interest, as to employment, appointment, reappointment, reemployment, or promotion by reason of the employee's active military service." The words "or that employer's successor in interest" close the gap where a department is reorganised. Holding office is not forfeited. Subsection 5: a public officer "may not be required to resign from, vacate, or forfeit a governmental office or position as a consequence of entering into active military service." And paragraph (b) answers an old problem directly: "A person in active military service is not considered to be holding an office or position of trust or employment under the United States government for purposes of determining whether that person is disqualified or prohibited from retaining a position or serving as a public officer." Many state constitutions and statutes disqualify a person holding a federal office from holding state office; this removes military service from that bar. Paragraph (c) is the limit: nothing in the section extends a term of office beyond the term to which the person was elected or appointed, and a legislator or officer serving a specific term gets leave "for a period not to exceed the applicable term". The remedy, which is the strongest part. Subsection 6: a person denied restoration of employment or benefits "may petition the district court of the county in which the person resides, or in which the denial occurs, to require the public employer to comply with the provisions of this section without delay. Fees or court costs may not be assessed against the petitioner. The court shall order a speedy hearing in the case and advance it on the calendar so far as reasonably possible. If the court determines that the petitioner is entitled to relief, the court shall order all appropriate relief, to include compensation for loss of wages and benefits and an award of attorneys' fees and costs." No filing fees or court costs against you, a statutory direction to expedite, and attorney fees and costs on success. Note the contrast with the hiring preference in section 71A-2-103, which has a criminal penalty and no civil remedy at all: the Utah legislature gave reemployment a civil remedy with fee-shifting and gave the hiring preference none. Where this sits alongside other Utah provisions. Section 71A-8-102 gives state employees 15 days of paid military leave a year and lets local governments do the same at their discretion. Section 71A-8-105 extends a five-year leave of absence to any reserve component member, public or private, and criminalises hiring discrimination on reserve membership. Section 71A-8-103 extends a professional licence that expires during activation, and section 71A-8-104 suspends professional liability insurance premiums. Chapter 39A-6, the Utah Service Members' Civil Relief Act, protects a Guard member on state orders against foreclosure, eviction, default judgment and high interest. Each has its own entry or is described in the Utah military leave entry.