Military Leave Entitlement

The Executive Officer of the District of Columbia (DC) Superior Court requested advice regarding the military leave entitlement of a full-time employee of the Superior Court of D.C. The employee took leave on three different occasions in connection with his duties as an officer in the District of Columbia National Guard (DCNG). The Executive Officer requested clarification of: (1) whether civilian employees who are members of DCNG are entitled to unlimited military leave for all DCNG duty regardless of the purpose of such duty; (2) whether the employee in question may be granted military leave for all three periods that he was on duty with DCNG; (3) whether leave in excess of the 15 days authorized by statutes may be granted for purposes such as training and the ferrying of aircraft; and (4) whether the employee should be charged military leave for two holidays which occured during his absence. While there is no specific limit on the duration of military leave that may be taken by civilian employees, such leave can be taken only for encampments, parades or other duties ordered by DC code. The period in which the employee took part in field training activities is covered by the term encampment. Thus he may be granted military leave for that period. The full-time training duty is not covered by these statutes. Therefore, the employee may be paid for 15 of the 20 days of this period in accordance with applicable laws dealing with active duty. The holidays in question must be charged to military leave since they were wholly within the periods of DCNG duty.