Expert's View

If you are a federal employee whose appointment isn’t limited to one year, you are entitled to take military leave. If you are a full-time employee, you’ll be entitled to 15 days every fiscal year for active or inactive duty training. (The entitlement of part-time employees and those on uncommon tours of duty are prorated.)

Further, the law provides 22 workdays each calendar year for emergency duty ordered by the President. This is duty performed by the military in support of civil authorities engaged in the protection of life and property or who are called to active duty in support of a contingency operation, as designated by the Secretary of Defense.

The rules are different for certain other employees. For example, members of the National Guard of the District of Columbia are granted unlimited leave when ordered or authorized under tile 39 of the District of Columbia Code. And Reserve and National Guard Technicians under certain conditions are entitled to 44 workdays of military leave for overseas duty.

If you are entitled to military leave, it can only be charged to you if it occurs during hours that you would otherwise have worked and been paid. There is no charge to military leave for weekends and/or holidays that may occur within a period of military service. Note: The minimum leave charge is one hour; the maximum during any work day is eight hours.

Oh, you’re wondering about the effect of military leave on your civilian pay. Well, it depends. If you are an employee of the District of Columbia and are engaged in field or coast defense training under sections 502-505 of title 32, your pay remains the same, including any premium pay (except Sunday premium pay) you would have received if you weren’t on military leave. On the other hand, the rest of you will have your civilian pay reduced by the amount of military pay you receive for those days of military leave. However, if you want to receive both your military and your civilian pay, you are free to take annual leave.