...
Summary of differences between federal and state regulations
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.
State law extends the reinstatement and reemployment rights of USERRA to permanent public employees and permanent private employees in the uniformed services.
“Permanent public employee” means any person holding a position in public employment that requires working a regular schedule of 26 consecutive biweekly pay periods, or any other regular schedule of comparable consecutive pay periods, which is not limited to a specific season or duration. “Permanent public employee” does not include student help; intermittent, seasonal, or external interim employees; or individuals covered by personal services contracts.
“Permanent private employee” means any person holding a position with a private employer.
Military family leave
Effective July 2, 2010, Ohio allows employees to take leave for reasons similar to the FMLA’s qualifying exigency provisions, or leave to care for an injured servicemember, although state law is more restrictive. Once per calendar year, an employer shall allow an employee to take leave up to 10 days or 80 hours, whichever is less.
“Employer” means a person who employs 50 or more employees and includes the state or any agency or instrumentality of the state, and any municipal corporation, county, township, school district, or other political subdivision of the state.
For employees to be eligible for such leave, all of the following conditions must be satisfied:
(1) The employer has employed the employee for at least 12 consecutive months and for at least 1,250 hours in the 12 months immediately preceding commencement of the leave.
(2) The employee is the parent, spouse, or a person who has or had legal custody of a person who is a member of the uniformed services and who is called into active duty for a period longer than 30 days, or who is injured, wounded, or hospitalized while serving on active duty in the uniformed services.
“Active duty” means full-time duty in the active military service of the United States or active duty pursuant to an Executive Order of the President of the United States, an act of the congress of the United States, or a proclamation of the governor. “Active duty” does not include active duty for training, initial active duty for training, or the period of time for which a person is absent from employment for an examination to determine the fitness of the person to perform any duty unless such period is contemporaneous with an active duty period.
“Uniformed services” means the armed forces, the Ohio Organized Militia when engaged in full-time national guard duty, the commissioned corps of the public health service, and any other category of persons designated by the President of the United States in time of war or emergency.
(3) The employee gives notice to the employer at least 14 days prior to taking leave if the leave is being taken because of a call to active duty, or at least two days prior if the leave is being taken because of an injury, wound, or hospitalization. If the employee receives notice from a representative of the uniformed services that the injury, wound, or hospitalization is of a critical or life-threatening nature, the employee may take the leave without providing notice to the employer.
(4) The dates on which the employee takes leave occur no more than two weeks prior to or one week after the deployment date of the employee's spouse, child, or ward or former ward.
(5) The employee does not have any other leave available for the employee's use except sick leave or disability leave.
An employer may require an employee requesting such leave to provide certification from the appropriate military authority to verify that the employee satisfies the criteria described in divisions (2), (3), and (4) above.
Benefit maintenance and job restoration
The employer must continue to provide benefits to the employee during such leave. The employee shall be responsible for the same proportion of the cost of the benefits as the employee regularly pays during periods when the employee is not on leave. The employer is not required to pay salary or wages to the employee during such leave.
“Benefits” means the employment benefits, other than salary or wages, that an employer regularly provides or makes available to employees, including, but not limited to, medical insurance, disability insurance, life insurance, pension plans, and retirement plans.
Upon the completion of the leave, the employer must restore the employee to the position held prior to taking that leave or a position with equivalent seniority, benefits, pay, and other terms and conditions of employment.
An employer shall not interfere with, restrain, or deny the exercise or attempted exercise of these rights. An employer shall not discharge, fine, suspend, expel, discipline, or discriminate against an employee with respect to any term or condition of employment because of the employee's actual or potential exercise, or support for another employee's exercise, of these rights.
An employer shall not deprive an employee who takes such leave of any benefit that accrued before the date that leave commences. Employers may provide leave benefits greater than those established under this chapter.
State
Contacts
None.
Regulations
Ohio Revised Code Title 59, Chapter 5903, Veteran’s Rights
Military Family Leave, Ohio Revised Code Title 59, §§5906.01, 5906.02, and 5906.03
Federal
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