Revisiting Reservist Benefits

The Society for Human Resource Management, Alexandria, Va., recently asked its members how their organizations had adjusted their policies toward employees serving in the National Guard or Reserve in the last year. The online poll, which drew 346 responses, showed that a solid majority (78%) had made no changes. However, a follow-up question indicated that could change. Among those who had made adjustments, 11% said they had increased the length of time for which differential pay or other monetary benefits are available to those employees, and 6% said they had increased the amount of differential pay or other monetary benefits. (Differential pay, which bridges or helps bridge the gap between military pay and a worker's usual wages, is not a federally required employee benefit among private employers.) Asked how likely is was that their organization would reevaluate such benefits now that the U.S. Army has extended Guard and Reservist leave to one year of service overseas, some 41% said it was "very likely" to "somewhat likely" that a reevaluation would occur. The online poll was conducted in mid-September.