Military Leave

If you are called upon to perform military service, whether it involves active duty or annual training requirements for the National Guard or U.S. Military Reserves, you may be entitled to reinstatement/reemployment and other rights under the Uniform Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (“USERRA”). In order to qualify for benefits under USERRA, your separation from military service must be under honorable conditions and it must meet all of the other requirements of the law. Your military service must be in compliance with the following requirements:

Eligibility - It is the policy of PMG to grant leaves of absence without pay to employees who must be absent from employment to perform a duty, either voluntary or involuntary, in the uniformed services. To qualify under the military leave policy, an employee requesting leave must provide advance written notice to his or her immediate supervisor as soon as possible, and furnish a copy of his or her military orders which identifies the time period for the leave as specifically as possible. PMG reserves the right to deny reinstatement or reemployment in order to avoid an undue hardship upon the company.

Reinstatement - Upon returning from a military leave lasting fewer than thirty-one (31) days, in order to be eligible for USERRA, an employee must report to work at the beginning of the first full regularly scheduled work day following the completion of the military service.

Reemployment - For military leave lasting more than thirty (30) days, but less than one hundred eighty-one (181) days, in order to be eligible for USERRA, an employee must submit an application for reemployment before the expiration of fourteen (14) days after the completion of the military service. An employee on a military leave lasting longer than one hundred eighty-one (181) days must submit an application for reemployment before the expiration of ninety (90) days after the completion of the service. Employees returning from military leave lasting more than thirty (30) days must provide official military documentation identifying the period of military service to establish that the application for reemployment was timely and the character of discharge was honorable.

Benefits During Leave - An employee on leave will continue to be eligible for health benefits for up to twenty-four (24) months to the same extent as if his/her employment had not been interrupted, so long as he/she continues to pay a monthly premium according to the following schedule:

• For leaves of less than thirty-one (31) days, an employee will be required to pay the normal employee share of the premium.

•For leaves of more than thirty-one (31) days, an employee will be required to pay both the employee and employer share of the premium under the plan.

Health insurance premiums shall be billed to the employee on a monthly basis. The employee will have ten (10) days from the date of mailing within which to submit payment of the amount owed. Failure to make the monthly premium payment in a timely manner shall result in the cancellation of benefits.

Restoration of Benefits Upon Reinstatement/Reemployment - Upon reinstatement or reemployment, benefits will be restored as if the employee’s employment had not been interrupted. In other words, an employee will be restored to the level of benefits attained had he or she provided continuous service to PMG. As a result, rights and benefits determined by length of service such as vacation will reflect continuous employment.

Policy No.  605  Issued  10/24/2005  Applicable  5/22/2009