EmployeesClarification of Law Enforcement Allowance for State or
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Effective August 18, 2005, Employee and Labor Relations Manual (ELM) 517.43, Law Enforcement Allowance, is revised to clarify the circumstances under which eligible employees are granted additional paid military leave over and above the general allowance to perform military aid to enforce the law in their state or jurisdiction. No new policy is intended, but the language is reorganized and modified to clarify what activities do and do not qualify the employee for this additional allowance. We will incorporate these revisions into the next printed version of the ELM and also into the online update, available on the Postal ServiceTM PolicyNet Web site: • Go to http://blue.usps.gov. • Under "Essential Links" in the left-hand column, click on References. • Under "References" in the right-hand column, under "Policies," click on PolicyNet. • Click on Manuals. (The direct URL for the Postal Service PolicyNet Web site is http://blue.usps.gov/cpim.) It is also available on the Postal Service Internet: • Go to www.usps.com. • Click on About USPS & News, then Forms & Publications, then Postal Periodicals and Publications, and then Manuals. Employee and Labor Relations Manual (ELM) * * * * * 5 Employee Benefits 510 Leave * * * * * 517 Paid Military Leave * * * * * 517.4 Military Leave Allowances * * * * * 517.43 Law Enforcement Allowance 517.431 State or Jurisdiction Duty [Revise 517.431 to read as follows:] Eligible full-time and part-time employees who are members of the National Guard are granted additional paid military leave over and above the general allowance if they are ordered by appropriate authority to provide military aid to enforce the law of their contracted state or their chartered jurisdiction (e.g., the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or a territory of the United States). See approval procedures in 517.3. The following provisions apply: a. Evaluation of Circumstances.
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(1) Qualifying Circumstances. Military aid is the kind of work characteristic of, or typically performed by, soldiers. Military aid to enforce the law means engagement in the suppression of riots, violent assembly, widespread looting, and civil disorder where the guardsman is ordered to perform state military duty under a state law that specifically confers law enforcement powers on the guardsman or under the authority of an executive order of the governor (or the highest authority of the jurisdiction) pursuant to state law that specifically confers on the governor the authority to confer law enforcement powers on activated guardsmen. Orders to provide assistance or support to law enforcement agencies do not constitute an order conferring law enforcement powers. The mere fact that national guardsmen in uniform perform a given function does not necessarily transform that function into military aid. The duty performed must be evaluated. Such additional military leave is granted only when an employee's military orders (or other official documentation from the employee's guard unit) specify that he or she was engaged in one or more of the activities and under the authority referenced above for the particular periods of military duty. (2) Nonqualifying Circumstances. Additional military leave is not granted when military orders do not specify one or more of the duties and statutory requirements referenced in 517.431a(1) above. For example, it is not granted when an employee's military orders simply indicate the employee was ordered to duty "for law enforcement purposes," "to enforce the law," "for state emergency active duty," etc. It is not granted if the duties are top secret and the actual duties cannot be verified as meeting these requirements. It is not granted if the military orders state that the duty is to provide aid to civil authorities to protect life, preserve property, or prevent injury. Circumstances that do not qualify the employee for additional military leave include, but are not limited to, the following: (a) Activities that, although prompted by emergencies, do not involve directly enforcing the law, such as when guardsmen are engaged in fighting fires, controlling floods, controlling routine crowds, cleaning up following natural disasters, eradicating controlled substances, providing transportation and/or services to persons engaged in law enforcement or other activities, or providing security for such missions. (b) Activities that, although they may have a collateral effect of enforcing the law, do not involve military aid, such as when guardsmen are engaged in directing vehicular traffic, which may concern enforcement of traffic laws, or when a guardsman provides security for public events, buildings, or places, these duties do not constitute military aid to enforce the law. (c) Activities whose principal purpose is to protect the United States and its territories from attack by foreign enemies or domestic agents aligned with foreign enemies. b. Amount Granted. Law enforcement military leave is granted, upon the presentation of qualifying military orders, as follows: (1) Full-time employee - 22 workdays (176 workhours) each fiscal year. (2) Part-time employee - 1 hour of military leave for each 13 hours of service performed as a part- time employee in the fiscal year preceding the request provided both of the following conditions apply: (a) The employee has worked at least 1,040 hours during the preceding fiscal year. (b) Additional leave granted under this section does not exceed 160 workhours in a fiscal year. * * * * * — Compensation, |
Noncash AwardsNoncash awards valued at $50, as well as those valued at less than $50, need not be entered in eAwards. Such awards are considered de minimus, which means that their value does not equal the minimum amount arbitrarily |
set by the Postal ServiceTM for property or service so small that accounting for it would be unreasonable or impractical as outlined in the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) section 132(e). Noncash items valued at $51 or more, however, must be reported in eAwards. — Compensation, |
