California has passed a law providing employees whose spouses are on active military duty with protected leave from work to be with their spouses when they are on leave from duty.

Governor Schwarzenegger signed Assembly Bill 392 into law last month and it became effective immediately. The Bill has two main components:

1. An employer of more than 25 people must provide an employee with up to 10 days of unpaid leave when their spouse is on leave from military duty; and
2. The employer is prohibited from retaliating against a qualified employee for requesting or taking this leave.

To me, one of the most surprising aspects of this law is that the employer must grant the leave, regardless of the circumstances-no exceptions. This is uncommon in employment law where there are usually at least some exceptions where the employer can deny the leave.

Under the Family Medical Leave Act, for example, non-emergency medical leave requests the employer can make the employee wait to take the leave if they are a "key employee" or if it is a very busy time of the year for the employer. Other leave laws allow similar exceptions where it will cause a "hardship" on the employer.

However, under this new California leave law, it looks like employers have no right to deny the leave request, no matter how essential it is that the employee be at work. This does make sense, of course, because the employee's spouse will only be off of leave during a set period of time.

This is a very interesting development in the law and the fact that it went into effect immediately makes me wonder how many spouses and military personnel know about it. If you know someone who has a spouse in the military, be sure to remind them of this opportunity to take time off from work to be with their spouse!

One of the strongest job protections for employees in the United States is for those who take a leave of absence to serve in the armed forces. I have seen a dramatic increase in these claims in just the past year and I recently filed a federal lawsuit for a client in San Francisco for some egregious violations.

The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 ("USERRA") requires employers to provide employees with up to five years of leave to serve in the military.

When an employee returns from military service, their employer must return them to their old position at the same rate of pay without any loss of seniority or benefits based on seniority, such as raises and vacation pay.

These protections still apply even if the employee has been replaced. If the employee's position no longer exists, the employer usually must give them an equivalent position.

Additionally, an employee who returns from military leave cannot be terminated without cause for 180 days following their return. This is by far the strongest job protection provided by any federal or state employment law.

Of course, the real reason for this law is to tell recruits that their jobs will be protected if they need to take a military leave. However, if the Democratic Congress succeeds in pulling our troops out of Iraq sometime in the near future, the real effect of these protections will come into play as thousands of troops reenter the workforce.

As these employees begin returning to work and employers have to deal with accommodating them, some will simply ignore the law and hope the employee does not sue them. If you know someone who is returning from military duty, make sure they know their rights.