Active Military Duty

According to the Uniformed Service Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) and the Military Relief Act, any person who leaves employment for active duty in the uniformed services shall be treated as being on military leave of absence during the period of service.

As an employee of UNO, you will receive 15 calendar days of military leave with full pay for each tour of duty.  Beyond the 15 days, you may use any amount or combination of annual, compensatory, or leave without pay.  The University will hold open your position or a position of “like seniority, status, and pay” until you return to work.

Insurance:  During active duty, you may continue or cancel health, life, dependent life, dental, cancer, intensive care, vision, and/or long term disability insurance coverages in which you are currently enrolled.  If you elect to continue, UNO will continue to contribute its portion of the premium even during times of leave without pay.  If you elect to drop your coverage, you must reinstate your coverage within 30 days of discharge from active duty.  Cancellation of coverage will not be considered a break in service provision under the retirement vesting rule for medical premiums.

Retirement:  During paid leave, both employee and employer contributions will be reported to your retirement system.  During leave without pay, you may elect to pay or not pay the required employee portion of retirement contributions.  If you elect not to pay contributions into the retirement system, you will receive credit for retirement eligibility only.  However, you remain eligible to purchase the service credit upon returning to work.

You must contact the Office of Human Resource Management immediately upon receiving orders to report to active military duty in order to complete the necessary paperwork.  If you have any questions, please contact Tamara Kennedy  at (504) 280-3178 or Betty Dauenhauer  at (504) 280-7269.