Through a 20-year study, researcher Mark Huselid, Rutgers University, established a strong and definite link between HR management and company performance. One of the significant findings was the correlation between the degree to which a company deployed a human resource management system and its economic performance.
The Huselid study, in short, said good HR systems and practices deliver exceptional performance in terms of shareholder value. A system, by definition, leaves nothing open-ended. Many companies and organizations, however, still have no formalized method of dealing with leave requests from employees who are also military reservists.
“There are several things that must be considered when a company puts a military leave policy for reservist-employees in place,” says Robert Bonnell, human resources consultant, Ashlar-Stone Management Consultants Inc., and a serving naval reservist and former commanding officer of HMCS York. “These include what obligations it will place on the company and what impact it may have on other non-reservist employees, especially in a unionized environment.”
Notwithstanding the above, Bonnell believes that formalizing a military leave policy pays overall dividends for an organization.
“The company gets back full value for what it gives in many ways,” says Bonnell. “Employee loyalty is certainly a factor. Reservist-employees will be much more loyal to a company that supports them. There are many other organizational benefits as well. An employee going away on a military leadership course will bring leadership back to the company. Other military courses focus on things like problem solving or they teach technical skills that will come back to the company through the reservist-employee.”
Most formal corporate military-leave policies designed for reservist-employees are structured using the same criteria a company would use to evaluate any other request for time off. A basic military leave policy provides a reservist-employee two weeks off without pay.
Some companies, however, have instituted military-leave policies with one of the following three provisions:
paid military leave
1. Paid military leave: The company or organization grants an annual two-week period of paid military leave that is set apart from the employee’s regular vacation time.
military pay “top-ups”
2. Military pay “top-ups”: The employer pays the difference between the military salary and the reservist-employee’s civilian salary to avoid a loss of income to the reservist during the two-week leave.
military pay-back
3. Military pay-back: The employer and employee arrive at an agreement to leave the employee on salary during the two-week leave, and arrange to have the military pay paid back to the company.
Some employers will also write in provisions for a special leave of absence to release their reservist employees for military courses or operations. As in all HR matters, it is a matter of striking a policy that accommodates the employee without creating hardship for the company.
reap
The Canadian Forces Liaison Council’s Reserve Employment Assistance Program (REAP) now allows employers to place employee-wanted ads for skilled personnel at more than 300 military units across the country at no charge. As a result, Canadian companies and organizations will most likely see over the next decade more reservist-employees on their staffs. In order to capitalize on the benefits that reservists can bring to an organization, HR professionals should plan now and create a military leave policy that will pay dividends in the years to come.
Captain Richard E. Gower is the outreach officer for the Canadian Forces Liaison Council (CFLC) in Ottawa. The CFLC is the employer-support arm for Canada’s Reserve Force. To request a complimentary copy of guidelines for formulating a military leave policy for reservists including a pro forma, call 1-800-567-9908.
The Huselid study, in short, said good HR systems and practices deliver exceptional performance in terms of shareholder value. A system, by definition, leaves nothing open-ended. Many companies and organizations, however, still have no formalized method of dealing with leave requests from employees who are also military reservists.
“There are several things that must be considered when a company puts a military leave policy for reservist-employees in place,” says Robert Bonnell, human resources consultant, Ashlar-Stone Management Consultants Inc., and a serving naval reservist and former commanding officer of HMCS York. “These include what obligations it will place on the company and what impact it may have on other non-reservist employees, especially in a unionized environment.”
Notwithstanding the above, Bonnell believes that formalizing a military leave policy pays overall dividends for an organization.
“The company gets back full value for what it gives in many ways,” says Bonnell. “Employee loyalty is certainly a factor. Reservist-employees will be much more loyal to a company that supports them. There are many other organizational benefits as well. An employee going away on a military leadership course will bring leadership back to the company. Other military courses focus on things like problem solving or they teach technical skills that will come back to the company through the reservist-employee.”
Most formal corporate military-leave policies designed for reservist-employees are structured using the same criteria a company would use to evaluate any other request for time off. A basic military leave policy provides a reservist-employee two weeks off without pay.
Some companies, however, have instituted military-leave policies with one of the following three provisions:
paid military leave
1. Paid military leave: The company or organization grants an annual two-week period of paid military leave that is set apart from the employee’s regular vacation time.
military pay “top-ups”
2. Military pay “top-ups”: The employer pays the difference between the military salary and the reservist-employee’s civilian salary to avoid a loss of income to the reservist during the two-week leave.
military pay-back
3. Military pay-back: The employer and employee arrive at an agreement to leave the employee on salary during the two-week leave, and arrange to have the military pay paid back to the company.
Some employers will also write in provisions for a special leave of absence to release their reservist employees for military courses or operations. As in all HR matters, it is a matter of striking a policy that accommodates the employee without creating hardship for the company.
reap
The Canadian Forces Liaison Council’s Reserve Employment Assistance Program (REAP) now allows employers to place employee-wanted ads for skilled personnel at more than 300 military units across the country at no charge. As a result, Canadian companies and organizations will most likely see over the next decade more reservist-employees on their staffs. In order to capitalize on the benefits that reservists can bring to an organization, HR professionals should plan now and create a military leave policy that will pay dividends in the years to come.
Captain Richard E. Gower is the outreach officer for the Canadian Forces Liaison Council (CFLC) in Ottawa. The CFLC is the employer-support arm for Canada’s Reserve Force. To request a complimentary copy of guidelines for formulating a military leave policy for reservists including a pro forma, call 1-800-567-9908.
