Harvard University’s Military Leave Policy & Procedures
Effective date
/ January 28, 2003
Purpose of this document
/ This document summarizes Harvard’s military leave policy, and explains related administrative procedures. It is intended for use by Harvard’s human resources community.
Background
/ In October 2001, the University began to supplement military pay for up to 90 days for all employees who were called into active duty following the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
This pay supplement, provided by the employee’s home department, committed the University to additional benefits beyond the basic leave of absence and reemployment rights guaranteed under the 1994 Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA).
Current policy
/ The policy adopted in October, 2001 is as follows:
“Harvard will pay the difference between an eligible employee’s base military pay and his/her base University salary for up to 90 days of military service per year.
The staff member must submit his/her military leave and earnings statement to receive such pay. The staff member may (but is not required to) use any vacation or personal days during any part of the leave that would otherwise be unpaid.
The employee’s department is responsible for the pay supplement.””
Definition of military service
/ Military service is defined as the performance of military duty on a commissioned or non-commissioned status, voluntary or non-voluntary basis, and includes:
  • active duty
  • active duty for training
  • initial active duty for training
  • inactive duty training
  • full-time National Guard duty
  • absence from work to determine a person’s fitness for duty, and
  • funeral honors duty by National Guard or reserve members.

Who is eligible?
/ This policy covers all members of the armed forces (Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and Coast Guard) including the Reserves, the Army and Air National Guard, and the commissioned corps of the Public Health Service and any other person given protection under the 1994 USERRA.
What is changing now?
/ On January 28, 2003, President Summers announced that, going forward, Harvard would supplement the pay of Harvard employees called to active military service for the balance of calendar year 2003, rather than just for 90 days.
This extended pay supplement (from day 91 to the end of the leave or the end of 2003, whichever comes sooner) is available to Harvard staff beginning a military leave of absence after January 28, 2003. It will be funded by the President. , and will replace income lost due to military service up to total annual earnings (military base salary plus Harvard supplement) of $100,000.
The employee’s department continues to be responsible for the pay supplement for the first 90 days after the employee is called to active duty. ,and the portion of the extended pay supplement that provides total earnings of more than $100,000.
Job security while on military leave
/ USERRA provides that an employees called to active duty must be re-employed in the same or a similar jobs with the same status when they return and that they receive the same pay and benefits they would have had received if they had they never been absent for military service.
Health & welfare benefits while on paid military leave
/ Employees are eligible to continue their participation in health, dental, disability, long term care, and life insurance programs programs, andas well as flexible spending accounts and long -term care while they are on a paid military leave. They are eligible to participate at the same cost as if they were if an active employees.
The benefit elections the employee had in place at the time of the leave will automatically continue. If they wishthe employee wishes to make any changes (e.g., drop health coverage), they will need to contact the Benefits Services Group to request the appropriate forms to change their elections.
Benefit deductions will continue to be taken from the employee’s paycheck. In situations where the paycheck will not cover all of the deductions, the deductions will be taken in the following priority: health, dental, disability, life insurance, and flexible spending accounts, and long -term care..
Otherwise, the deductions will go into arrears, except for:
  • flexible spending accounts, which will readjust to the annual maximum goal amount upon the employee’s return in the same calendar year;, andyear and
  • long -term care, for which the employee will will need be to be directly billed fromby John Hancock.
If they return in a new calendar year, they will need to make a positive election for flexible spending account. When the deductions go into arrears………..????. Upon returning from leave, the deductions will automatically be taken from the employee’s’ first available paycheck. If the employee wishes to set up a payment plan, they should contact the Benefits Services Group to make arrangements. Also, if the employee returns in a new calendar year, they will need to make a positive election for flexible spending accounts.
Technical nNote: In order to keep health and welfare benefit rates the same for the employee, it is important that neither the salary nor the standard hours for the employee on leave be changed in Peoplesoft. These factors impact affect the Annual Base Benefits Rate (ABBR), which is used as the basis for benefits rates and thresholds. Instructions about on how to do this are provided later in this document.
Retirement benefits while on paid military leave
/ Employees are eligible to participate in the a tax-deferred account (TDA) while on a paid leave. Employees on paid leave will also continue their participation in their the pension plan. When the employee returns from paid leave, we will restore pension contributions and service as if there had not been a leave taken. This means that pension contributions will be based on the amount of compensation the person would have had if they did not go on paid leave.However, the contributions will be based on their pensionable earnings.
Limitations on benefits while on military leave
/ Please note the following:
  • Life insurance policies generally do not cover service-related deaths;.
  • Harvard’s short-term disability, long-term disability, and Worker’s’ Compensation programs do not cover injuries and illnesses that occur during active military service, nor do they cover conditions related to military service (e.g., Gulf War Syndrome)..
Because of these limitations, employees may be inclined to drop life and long-term disability insurance while oin military leave. The key risk of doing so is that when they return they will be subject to the following re-enrollment restrictions:
  • Supplemental Life Insurance: iIf re-enrolling, - when increasing your coverage level, youthe employee will need to complete and Evidence of Insurability (EOI) form. John Hancock will review the application and either approve or decline the request.
  • Long Term Disability (LTD): I - if youan employee does not continue their disability coverage while on leave and reelects the disability coverage when they returnyourhis, there is a one year wait on any pre-existing conditions. For example, after becoming an employee if an employeeyou are or he becomes totally disabled as a result of a condition existing prior to such election, and he has not have not completed one year of uniterupteduninterrupted service after the effective date of such election during which youhe actually performed work offor the University, no disability benefits are payable with respect to such disability.

Miscellaneous deductions while on leave
/ An employee going on military leave should be encouraged to review and change miscellaneous benefits deductions as needed. Harvard salary while on paid military leave may not provide sufficient funds to sustain all these deductions, or they may be unnecessary.
Examples include:
  • Credit Union deductions
  • Union union dues
  • Insurance insurance payments
  • Mortgagemortgage/other loan payments
  • Parking parking fees
  • Contributions contributions to charity
  • Fitness fitness (HMS/HSDM)
Note: Employees must speak directly to their union representative to see if the union will be continuingcontinue to require dues while they are on active military service. Harvard is obligated to continue the deduction and remit it to the union, so a refund or credit would be issued directly from the union.
Paid time off
/ While on a military leave, employees do not accrue personal, vacation, sick, or holiday time. At the beginning of a military leave, an employee can elect to be paid in a lump sum for accrued vacation or comp time.
Note: very Very recent legislation suggests that employees may be entitled to vacation time they would have accrued if still at work, to be awarded upon their return. We will issue a clarification when possibleavailable.
Limitations on benefits while on military leave
/ Please note the following:
Life insurance policies generally do not cover service-related deaths;
Harvard’s short-term disability, long-term disability, and Worker’s Compensation programs do not cover injuries and illnesses that occur during active military service.
Because of these limitations, employees may be inclined to drop life and long-term disability insurance while in military leave. The key risk of doing so is that….
Benefits while on unpaid military leave
/ This document addresses Harvard’s new paid military leave policy. There may be circumstances when an employee goes on, or transitions to, unpaid military leave. Here are the benefits implications.
Health and Welfare Benefits:
Employees are eligible to continue their participation in health, dental, disability, long long-term care, and life insurance programs while they are on unpaid leave. The cost for these benefits is the same as if an active employee , (again assuming ABBR is not changed in PeopleSoft.).
The benefit elections that the employee had in place at the time of the leave will automatically continue when they go on leave. The employee will receive a personalized enrollment form to expedite any changes they wish to make to their elections. If they wish to make any changes (e.g., drop health coverage), they will need to complete the form and return it to the Benefits Services Group.
The employee will be responsible for making their benefit payments directly to Crosby Benefits Systems. Crosby will send the employee a booklet of coupons for their benefit payments. Long- term care payments will be made directly to John Hancock by the employee.
Retirement:
Employees are not eligible to participate in the the tax-deferred account while on an unpaid leave.
Employees on unpaid military leave become “inactive” participants in their pension plans. When they return to employment, the period of military service counts for all purposes under the plan – vesting, participation, and benefit accrual.
The employee may also make up missed elective contributions and is entitled to employer contributions that would have been made during the period of the leave under a defined contribution plan.
In the case of defined benefit plans, for the period of service, the returned employee is deemed to have had compensation at the rate he or she would have received but for the period of service.
Putting a Harvard staff member on military leave
/ The key actions that employees must take to go on a military leave are to:
  • notify local managmentmanagement that they have been called up;
  • provide a copy of their military orders and first pay stub;
  • review their benefits elections and miscellaneous deductions; , and
  • file contact information with Harvard.
The key actions that departments must take are to submit a Non-disabiltydDisability Leave of Absence form and process paid leave hours in Time and Labor for overtime-eligible staff .
These actions, and others, are explained in more detail in the Appendix to this document.
Open Issues
/ Here are questions we need to answer before we publish this policy.
Confirm with DCU language about disability programs. Confirm with Lori and Heidi final instructions regarding LOA form.
As of 3/26, changes from the following people have been incorporated:
Diantha Brown, Polly Price, Polly Scannell, Elaine Pridham, Doug Funkhouser, Heidi Conway, Lori Costa.
Make sure this document is consistent with and linked to: should the checklist for employees (below) be incorporated into this page?
Appendix: Procedures for Employees and Departments
Appendix ~ Procedures for Employees and Departments

Checklist for employees

/ Here is a list of things that employees should do when taking a military leave:
  1. Read about their rights and Harvard policies on military leave at:
  2. Notify their supervisor and human resources director that they have been called to active duty and that they wish to take a military leave.
  3. When it’s possible, provide a photocopy of military orders and a military pay stub showing base pay.
  4. Provide a forwarding/home address for official mail from Harvard during the leave.
  5. Ask a responsible friend or family member (ideally someone who is a spouse, next of kin, or a legal proxy for you) to open and respond to Harvard mail on your behalf, and to notify Harvard if your military status changes.
  6. With the help ofInform your local human resource office, you can also file an of your Emergency Contact informationform. They will enter the information into the H/R system such that it This data will be maintained in Harvard’s central HR information system, and is available to all authorized University personnel.
  7. Sign a Temporarily Reduce Pay form to authorize Harvard to recoup any overpayment that may occur as a result of drawing both military pay and Harvard pay during the first month(s) of deployment.
  8. Review, and adjustadjust, as needed , your benefits elections and miscellaneous deductions. To discontinue benefits, you will not need, toneed to contact call the Benefits Services Group at 617/496-4001 to request the appropriate forms that are required to cancel your benefits.

Checklist for departments

/ Here is a list of things that departments should do to administer an employee’s paid military leave:Here is a list of things that departments should do to administer an employee’s paid military leav
STEFAN: I CAN’T GET THE AUTOMATIC NUMBER TO WORK IN THIS SECTION, SO I NUMBERED MANUALLY. CAN YOU FIX?
1.1. e:
Plan to pay the employee their full salary in their first month or two of deployment. Obtain a signed Temporarily Reduce Pay Form written authorization from from the employee to recoup overpayment once military base pay has been substantiated.
2. Create a new Submit a PeopleSoft Non-dDisability lLeave of Absence Frecord in Asperin (Actions/Appointment/Leave/New). form as you would normally, but with this special handling for those going on military leave.
On the Employment Data Tab:
On the Employment Data tab
Choose “Military” as the leave reason. Use Put the “%FAS Paid” to 100%. an Action/Reason code combination of Paid d LOA/MIL.
For exempt staff: T tToggle the Salaried radio button “on.” .for Exempt staff. Once you have printed out the form, wWrite “Full Leave/Full Pay”in the remarks. on this part of the form. (This will continue the employee on full pay when s/hehe or she is first deployed.)
For overtime -eligible staff: Toggle the Hourly radio button “on.”. for overtime eligible staff. Nothing furutureher is needed in this section of the form, but pPlan to enter and approve hours each week in Time and Labor to produce the right salary supplement (or full salary until a military pay stub has been obtained) using the time reporting code PAL. For those work groups that do not have the PAL time reporting code (Police, Guards, Arboretum, Printers, Faculty Club), use the time reporting code AMTRG with the dollar amount you wish to pay the employee.
On the Calculate Costing tabTab:
, Enter Current Costing, and New Costing If if salary support for the person going on leave has been provided by a sponsored research account, you will need to enter new costing.. Harvard funds will need to be used to support the paid leave or supplement.
Notify OSR and/or the research sponsor if the employee who has gone on leave is essential for conducting the sponsored research project. It may need to be suspended.
  1. 3. FFollow normal leave of absence procedures such as collecting keys and other University property, deactivating systems access, etc.
4. Once you have received a military pay stub and have determined the correct amount of the salary supplement to be paid, take these actions.
If the staff member is exempt, sSubmit another Nondisability Leave of Absence Form. On the Employment Data region of the form, wWrite Full Leave/Partial Pay. For exempt staff, on the formwrite the salary supplement (in dollars) to be paid each pay period. For non-exempt staff, continue to report and approve leave hours (or dollars) in Time Labor.
Submit a Temporarily Reduce Pay form to recoup any overpayment that may have been made during the early months of deployment. (Do not attempt to make a retroactive adjustment to hours in Time & Labor for overtime eligible staff.)

Continued on next page