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The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) does not provide protection to members of the National Guard serving the states, nor do such members receive the protections of the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Civil Relief Act (SSCRA) (which was re-written in 2003 as the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act) when in state (rather than federal) service. The state protections listed below are in addition to protections under federal laws.
If a member of the Florida National Guard is ordered into state active duty, a private or public employer may not discharge, reprimand, or in any other way penalize such member because of his or her absence by reason of state active duty.
Upon completion of state active duty, a member of the National Guard must notify his or her employer of the intent to return to work.
Employers are not required to allow a member of the National Guard to return to work if the following apply:
The employer must be able to prove the impossibility or unreasonableness, undue hardship, the brief or nonrecurrent nature of the job, or the legally sufficient cause to terminate.
Returning servicemembers from the National Guard are entitled to the following:
Returning National Guard members may not be discharged for at least one year after returning to work, except for cause.
Employers may not require National Guard members returning to work to use vacation, annual, compensatory, or similar leave for the time served. Employees may choose to use such accrued paid time off, however.
Public employers
Effective July 1, 2024, public officials and employees of the state, a county, a municipality, or a political subdivision of the state must be granted a leave of absence to perform active military service. The first 30 days of such leave must be paid for federal military service that is equal to or greater than 90 consecutive days.
Employers may choose to supplement the military pay of reservists called to active military service after the first 30 days in an amount necessary to bring their total salary, inclusive of base military pay, to the level earned at the time they were called to active military duty.
Employers must continue to provide all health insurance and other existing benefits as required under the federal USERRA.
Contact
Florida Department of Military Affairs
Regulations
Florida Statutes Title XVII, Chapter 250, Section 250.482 Troops ordered into state active service; not to be penalized by employers and postsecondary institutions.
www.flsenate.gov/laws/statutes/2010/250.482
Florida Statutes Title XXXVII, Chapter 627, Section 627.6692 Florida Health Insurance Coverage Continuation Act, paragraphs (5)(h) to (5)(j)
Contacts
DOL’s Veterans’ Employment and Training Service (VETS)
Veterans’ Employment and Training Service (VETS)
200 Constitution Avenue, NW
Room S-1325
Washington, D.C. 20210
Phone: 1-866-4-USA-DOL (1-866-487-2365) or 202-693-4770
Website: www.dol.gov/vets/
Regulations
5 CFR Part 353 Restoration to Duty from Uniformed Service or Compensable Injury
20 CFR Part 1002 Regulations Under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994