A little mentioned fact is that the company can ask your Mil Commander for relief on your mil leave if it is imposing a hardship on the company. Company can't say no.....but, the CO (and Reservist) should be using their communication skills and minimizing the impact on the company if possible.
And sorry, I see nothing wrong in "gaming" the system during my low earning years and doing more mil activity than I will during the high earning years. To me, gaming the system means mil leaving a trip and then not doing any mil activities----just going skiing for example. (Or using sick leave to go skiing as a delta guy did many moons ago).
Before some of you get too wrapped around the axels, I do try and schedule my mil duties around my flying. But, if the company won't let me drop a trip, I have absolutely no heartburn with playing the mil leave card. Just ups the utilization rate of the guys sitting reserve if no one else picks the trip up.....and I have yet to see one of the trips I mil leaved get picked up by a guy sitting reserve......so, I can't be hurting the company that bad by using mil leave can I?
My company "games" the contract incessantly. More and more trips are contractually legal, with min rest periods scheduled, versus the more pilot friendly trips we had pre-contract signing.
Couple of Q&A clippings from USERRA website
Q: The attorney also said that this particular unit member is taking “excessive” military leave and putting an undue burden on the employer. How much military leave is too much?
A: That question is for you to decide, not the civilian employer or the courts. As the CO, you are responsible for the readiness and the safety of your unit. It is for you (and Air Force leaders above you) to decide how much training your unit members need and how much voluntary or involuntary service they are to perform. You should try to work with employers to minimize disruption of their operations, but not at the expense of safety and readiness.
Q: When I told the unit member about the letter that I had received from her employer’s attorney, she was very angry. She told me that it was unlawful for the employer to contact me as the CO and that I should tell the employer and the attorney to “pound sand.” What do you think?
A: Contacting the CO is not unlawful and indeed is encouraged by DoD policy. Please do not tell the employer to “pound sand.” You should meet with the attorney and/or the employer and explain why it is necessary for this unit member to participate in AFTPs and other service. The idea here is to promote good employer-employee relations and to gain the employer’s voluntary cooperation, if possible.
If there is a way for you (as the CO) to schedule her AFTPs and other training in such a way as to minimize the disruption of the employer’s operations, without detracting from readiness, safety, and mission accomplishment, you should do that. If, however, there is an unavoidable conflict between the needs of the Air Force and the needs of the civilian employer, the needs of the Air Force must prevail.