DCA A321 FO

Does an employer have to give you the Friday off prior to a drill weekend if you drill 1000 miles away?

More specifically, I fly out of DCA, I drill in Illinois, my employer doesn't give a rats ass. They will fly me til midnight on Friday if they could.

rickair7777

Good question. I have tried to block off Friday PM through Monday AM, but my company only does whole days for mil leave, so I just take off four days. On my leave form I note that I have added a travel/rest day on each end so as to avoid issues with not actually drilling on those days. My domicile and duty station are about 1000 miles apart.

Technically, they have to give you enough time to travel to/from and get 8 hours rest before work (going each way). I'm not 100% sure on the eight hours, but they cannot force you to finish drill Sunday night, drive all night and be at work at 0700 Monday. These rules are generic, not airline specific but obviously it would be an FAR violation to come to work after an all night commute anyway.

I think a reasonable plan would be Noon Friday to Noon Monday for Sat/Sun drills. If you drill Fri PM, then Thurs midnight to Monday noon. This assumes adequate flight availability.

Flight availability could be a grey area...I like some backups in case I get bumped as a nonrev, but I suppose a company could insist that you use the last available flight which allows for adequate rest. I doubt they would get that far into your business though.

My experience has been that employers (even bad ones) will back down if you call their bluff. Try to be reasonable, educate them on the requirements, but don't take their crap. In the current environment, they will lose and they know it. Advise your CO if you have any issues, so he can at least expect a phone call and will be prepared to back you up.

Salty?

130drvr

esgr.org and Reserve Officers Association: Reserve Officers Association Homepage both have good USERRA info. They have to give you time to travel to the drill location, be it around the block or across the country, you are still serving your country regardless of where you are going to do it. Many companies have lost legal battles in recent months when they have been challenged by an employee who is well informed on USERRA. The key is knowing the language from the USERRA law to back you up.

kronan

Yes, they have to give you as much time as you deem sufficient.

You should notify them as far in advance as possible for their planning purposes, albeit you are not obligated to do so. You could do it immediately prior to a trip and they have to give you the time off.

BUT, the big recommendation is trying to work with your employer for routine duty versus being activated by a Presidential or Congressional call to duty.

And, your employer is allowed to ask your commander for relief---eg, do they "really" need you that weekend or could you serve some other time.

Again, the relationship is supposed to work both ways.

flybynuts

DCA,

Do you have a mil rep at your company? They should be the first source. If not, read the websites listed by the previous poster. Having confidence in the rules help and if challenged, get a union rep to go discuss with the CP. Once the CP hears this, they probably will back off.