New Federal Posting Requirement: Military Leave Amendments
March 9, 2005
On December 10, 2004, President Bush signed into law the Veterans Benefits Improvement Act of 2004, Public Law 108-454 ("VBIA"). VBIA amended portions of the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act ("USERRA") of 1994 to provide additional protections for employees who voluntarily or involuntarily leave employment positions to perform military service (including veterans, reservists, and National Guard members). There are two noteworthy provisions of VBIA.
Notice Posting Requirement: VBIA requires employers to provide employees with notice of their rights, benefits and obligations under USERRA by March 10, 2005. This notice requirement can be satisfied by posting the USERRA notice in a location where other employee notices are customarily posted. Although the law is satisfied by posting the USERRA notice, employers may want to consider giving copies of the notice to eligible employees before they leave to perform military service.
The U.S. Department of Labor is developing a workplace notice that is expected to be completed by the March 10 deadline. This notice will be available at the United States Department of Labor website at http://www.dol.gov/vets/programs/userra/poster.pdf.
Extension of Health Insurance Protection: VBIA expands the right of military personnel to continue their employer-provided health insurance coverage for themselves and their dependents while they are on military service from 18 to 24 months. (Note: California employers must still comply with Cal-COBRA which requires a continuation period of 36 months for individuals who began receiving continuation coverage on or after January 1, 2003.) For military leaves of less than 31 days, the employee cannot be charged for insurance any more than he or she would have been charged as an active employee. For military leaves beyond 31 days, the employee can be charged up to 102% of the premium cost.
For more information on this matter, please contact one of the attorneys in Sonnenschein’s employment practice group.
Contacts:
Chicago
Roger T. Brice (312) 876-3112 rbrice@sonnenschein.com
Jeffrey S. Goldman (312) 876-8955 jgoldman@sonnenschein.com
Richard L. Marcus (312) 876-8177 rmarcus@sonnenschein.com
Kansas City
Mark P. Johnson (816) 460-2424 mjohnson@sonnenschein.com
Trina LeRiche (816) 460-2427 tleriche@sonnenschein.com
Los Angeles
Martin J. Foley (213) 892-5004 mfoley@sonnenschein.com
San Francisco
Gayle M. Athanacio (415) 882-5077 gathanacio@sonnenschein.com
Sandra R. McCandless (415) 882-2412 smccandless@sonnenschein.com
Washington
Amy L. Bess (202) 408-6444 abess@sonnenschein.com
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