Uniformed Services Leave
SEPTEMBER 20, 2001
MEMORANDUM
TO: Employees in the National Guard and Reserves
As soon as possible after receipt of orders, you should present your supervisor with a copy of military orders. The supervisor should immediately forward a copy of the orders, along with the Payroll Authorization Request (PAR), to Compensation in Human Resource Services (Room 21, Scovell Hall). After presentation of orders and at an appropriate date, you will be placed on Uniformed Services Leave that is basically a leave without pay. However, as active duty military personnel, you are entitled to ten (10) days of pay annually, between October 1 and September 30 (the federal fiscal year). If you have not used your annual ten (10) days of paid military leave during the present federal fiscal year, you will receive ten (10) days of paid military leave.
As long as you remain in a paid leave status, your retirement contributions will continue along with the University’s matching contributions.
Once you go into an unpaid leave status, you may continue making contributions to your retirement plan on an after-tax basis. You must make arrangements to mail these contributions directly to your retirement carrier(s). The University will not match these after-tax contributions.
Upon your return to employment with the University, you will be eligible to make up contributions to the retirement plan over a period equal to three (3) times the period of Uniformed Services Leave, but no longer than five (5) years. The University shall make, on behalf of the returning service member, any contributions to the retirement plan that the University would have made if you had not been absent for Uniformed Services Leave. These “make-up” contributions by the University will double match, up to a maximum of ten percent (10%), your contributions. These “make-up” contributions will not include any interest for the missed investment period. The University will not match any after-tax contributions that were sent by you to your retirement carrier(s) during your leave without pay.
You and your family may remain in the UK health plan for up to eighteen (18) months, after you are no longer in a pay status. You will receive the health credit for an additional period of up to thirty-one (31) days beyond your last day of being in a paid status. You must make arrangements for payment of applicable employee cost (premiums).
You may continue to be covered for your life as well as the lives of family members under the UK life insurance plans. You will be covered by the University’s basic life plan while you are on an official leave (with or without pay). You may continue to take the optional life for yourself and the Accidental Death and Dismemberment (AD&D) coverage for yourself and your family members. The basic life and optional life plans cover employees who suffer losses due to an act of war. However, the AD&D plan will NOT cover losses suffered due to an act of war, whether declared or undeclared. You must visit Employee Benefits to make arrangements for premium payments for any optional life or AD&D.
Upon your return from Uniformed Services Leave and provided that you were gone for ninety (90) days or less, you are entitled to reinstatement to the job you left with your seniority, status, and any pay increase/adjustment for promotion, merit increase or any other benefit you would have received if you had remained here at UK during that period. If your Uniformed Services Leave was greater than ninety (90) days, you may or may not be reinstated to the same job. However, you shall be re-employed in a job of like seniority, status, and pay that takes into account any promotions, pay increases, or other job changes that you would have been eligible for if you had remained on the job. The time frames vary as to when you must return to the University to your job, depending on how long you serve.