New Legislation to Benefit Spouses of Deployed Military Members
In order to serve the families of troops currently serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, and to assure that these families are able to spend time together during leaves from deployment, legislation has been passed requiring certain employers to provide leave time for any employee whose spouse is on leave from military deployment under the following circumstances:
Effective immediately, all public and private employers with more than 25 employees are required to grant up to ten days of unpaid leave to the “qualified spouse” of a member of the Armed Services, National Guard or Reserves who is on leave from deployment during a period of military conflict.
In order to be considered a “qualified spouse”, the employee must:
- work no less than an average of 20 hours a week;
- provide the employer with a notice of intent to take the leave within two business days of receiving official notice that his or her spouse will be on leave from deployment during the time that the employee requests the leave; and
- submit written documentation to the employer that the spouse will be on leave from deployment during the time that the employee has requested the leave.
This leave does not affect or prevent a qualified employer from allowing a qualified employee to take a leave that the qualified employee is otherwise entitled to take, nor does it affect a qualified employee’s rights with respect to any other employee benefit provided for in other laws.
Employers may not retaliate against any employee for requesting or taking such a leave
We recommend that affected employers who have implemented a formal military leave policy, or have included such a policy in their employee handbooks, revise those policies to reflect this change in the law.