Wyoming Military Leave (Wyo. Stat. §§ 19-11-101, et seq.)

NOTE: This leave will not appear on claims if your organization has chosen not to administer it.

Covered Employers: All employers

Employee Eligibility: "Employee" means any person employed by any private or public employer, including an elected or appointed official.

Entitlement: Any employee who leaves employment in order to perform service in the uniformed services shall be treated as being on military leave of absence during the period of service in the uniformed services, provided that they apply for reemployment in accordance with the requirements outlined below.

The cumulative length of the employee’s absence and of all of their previous military absences from employment with this employer cannot exceed 5 years, except that the period of service shall not include any service:

• That is required, beyond five (5) years, to complete an initial period of obligated service;

• During which the person was unable to obtain orders releasing the person from a period of service in the uniformed services before the expiration of the five (5) year period and the inability was through no fault of the person;

• Performed to fulfill additional training requirements determined to be necessary for professional development or for completion of skill training or retraining; or

• Performed by a member of a uniformed service who has been: (A) Ordered to or retained on active duty in time of war or national or state emergency; (B) Ordered to or retained on active duty other than for training under any provision of law during a war or during a national emergency declared by the president or the congress or emergency declared by the governor; or (C) Ordered to active duty in support of a critical mission or requirement of the uniformed services.

Employer Notice: Not specified

Employee Notice: Employee must give advance written or verbal notice of service and need for military leave. Notice is not required if the employee is precluded by military necessity or, if under all of the relevant circumstances, giving notice is otherwise impossible or unreasonable.

Obligation to Provide Certifications or Documents Supporting Need for Leave: Not specified

Paid?: No. However, if an employer elects to pay an employee during their leave, it must pay all employees during their leave to perform service in the uniformed services on a uniform basis. Any employee who leaves employment to serve in the uniformed services may use any amount or combination of accrued annual leave, paid military leave, vacation, or compensatory leave credited to the employee. No employer may deduct, from the compensation paid to an employee in the uniformed services, any cost of replacing the employee during said employee's service.

Benefits: Eligible employees shall continue to accrue sick leave, annual leave, vacation leave, or military leave on the same basis as the employee would have accrued leave during the period of service.

Eligible employees have the right to maintain coverage under any group life insurance, group insurance, family group, blanket and franchise health and accident insurance and health care services plan provided by any private or public employer in the state by furnishing their employer with sums equal to that which would have been deducted from the employee’s compensation for such coverage. Upon timely receipt of the employee’s required contributions, the employer must make its share of the contribution payment. The employee shall notify their employer of their election to continue insurance or plan coverage at the time they enters service in the uniformed services. Family members or dependent children of an employee who are covered by any insurance policy or plan who are subsequently called to service in the uniformed services shall continue to be considered family members or dependents under the provisions of the policy or plan without any lapse of coverage, provided that all required contributions are paid in accordance with the policy or plan provisions. Any employee who leaves employment to perform service in the uniformed services and who reapplies for coverage after release shall be reinstated, including all of the employee’s family members and dependents previously covered, with the group insurance program or medical and health care coverage without any clause or restriction because of a preexisting condition.

An employee may continue to contribute to their retirement system, pension fund or employee benefit plan during the period of service in the uniformed services.

Private employers must credit the period of service in the uniformed services toward retirement eligibility and vesting under any defined benefit plan, individual account plan, or a defined contribution pension plan.

Reinstatement: Eligible employees are entitled to reemployment within 10 days of application for reemployment if: (1) their previously employment was not for a brief, non-recurrent period with no reasonable expectation that such employment will continue indefinitely or for a significant period; and (2) the employee applies for reemployment subject to the provisions below.

• Period of Service Less than 31 days--not later than the beginning of the first full regularly scheduled work period on the first full calendar day following completion of service and expiration of 8 hours following travel home; or as soon as possible if reporting within that period is impossible or unreasonable through no fault of the employee;

• Period of Service More than 30 but less than 181 days--by submitting an application for reemployment not later than 14 days after completion of service or the next first full calendar day if submitting an application within that time is impossible or unreasonable through no fault of the applicant;

• Period of Service More than 180 days--by submitting an application for reemployment not later than 90 days after completion of service.

If the employee is hospitalized for, or convalescing from, an illness or injury incurred in, or aggravated during, the performance of service in the uniformed service, shall be entitled give notice of intent to return for up to 2 years from the date of injury, unless the period of service was for more than 180 days.

Upon request by the employer, the employee must provide proof of the following: (a) the employee’s application is timely; (b) the employee has not exceeded the 5-year limit on entitlement; and (c) if the employee has been discharged from the uniformed services, the discharge was an honorable discharge or a discharge under honorable conditions.

An employer is not required to reinstate a person if:

• The employer's circumstances have changed so as to make reemployment impossible or unreasonable;

• Reemployment would impose an undue hardship on the employer; and

• The job that the person left to serve in the uniformed services was for a brief, non-recurrent period, and there was no reasonable expectation that the job would continue indefinitely or for a significant period.

Other Important Definitions/Requirements: “Service in the uniformed services” means the performance of duty on a voluntary or involuntary basis in a uniformed service under competent authority and includes active duty, active duty for training, initial active duty for training, inactive duty training, full-time national guard duty, a period for which a person is absent from a position of employment for the purpose of an examination to determine the fitness of the person to perform any such duty and active state service by members of the national guard of any state who are activated pursuant to a call of a governor as provided for by law.

An employee who is reinstated after leave for uniformed service may not be discharged without cause for one year after reemployment.

Relationship with Other Leave: N/A

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