Crossing the finish line... running, walking or crawling... (Reserve Retirement Process)

[Python]

What @MIDNJAC said is ditto for me. EXTREMELY close to cutting ties. Thank god I did not. I could've written that exact post verbatim for myself.

 

[bubblehead]

BLUF.......if you cut ties at 12 years like I was about to, you are an idiot and you just robbed yourself of an enormous emergency chute in life, not to mention the possible lifetime healthcare benefits. If this is you, as it was nearly me, you dumb. I think we all just saw how the mandatory retirees =/= 121 jobs.

Well said... The Reserve has saved me more times that I can count going back to 2002 after I left Active Duty. Jobless in DC, I found and went on orders for a year which enabled me to get my SCI fully adjudicated, and, after the orders, I found a job in no time thanks in large part because of what I was working on while on orders, as well as my clearance.

Currently, the Reserve is saving at least two people I know who went on/are going on long-term orders to avoid layoffs and re-org shenanigans at their respective employers. One colleague went on a MOB, got back, and then went on ADOS (aka ADSW). By the time he gets off orders, he'll have been away from his employer on full pay (his company pays full pay for 24 months) for something close to the 2 years.

I am about to do the same for the same reasons. 29 days on.... 5 days off... 29 days on.... And repeat until I find another job. Then, after the orders money runs out, I'll go back to my employer, burn my PTO, resign, and start at my new employer.

Just be smart and discreet about your Reserve status with your employer or prospective employer to avoid bias. For me, I do not list anything military on my LinkedIn. On my resume, my military experience is listed succinctly under "Previous Experience".. On official job applications or official onboarding paperwork, I list my exact status but at that point, I am already hired and the hiring manager will never read or see the HR stuff.

Even after hiring, I never discuss or disclose my military status until I absolutely have to do so (ie, missing work due to being on ADT, or whatever).

 

[squorch2]

Alternatively, be up front with what you want/need to do in the Reserves, share your experiences, and broaden the appeal of the Navy at large.

Could try that too.

 

[SELRES_AMDO]

Unfortunately, I've received nothing but hate for being a reservist. And I work for the Navy as a DON Civilian. Bubblehead is right. You have to be smart about it and it is a balancing act.

There has been multiple times that I've been on AT and my bosses continued to task me with work. And, I'm not talking about responding to an email. I'm talking about multi-hour tasks that require my full attention. One time I just stopped responding after the second day because I was out on a test range and it just wasn't feasible to do both jobs. I got an earful from two GS-15s when I got back to the office about how I need to keep up with my work.

One boss told me openly he'd never hire a reservist again. Another would hassle me if I even missed one day of work and would make comments like "How long are you going to waste your time doing the reserves". I'm sure it cost me a promotion or two along the way because they didn't want someone who could get called away at any moment.

I've found your best bet if to keep it quiet until you're onboard. In fact, you could see the disappointment in my last supervisor's face when he realized I was a reservist and didn't disclose it.

 

[taxi1]

Where I work they offered paid mil leave so I didn't burn vacation, and were very supportive throughout years of well over the min drill and AT each year, and more than a year of MOB. Kept the door shut on my office other than to water the plants.

So some places are better than others, for sure.

 

[SELRES_AMDO]

That's the crazy thing. The Navy GS world has done nothing but hassle me for being a reservist.

A bunch of my reservist friends are contractors for the big Primes and the companies support their reserve endeavors with no questions asked.

 

[SlickAg]

Alternatively, be up front with what you want/need to do in the Reserves, share your experiences, and broaden the appeal of the Navy at large.

Could try that too.

I’m curious if you could elaborate on that and share the positive experiences you’ve by being up front? Did your employer know about your reserve duties at the time of the interview and did they express interest in helping you reach your goals in the reserves, even if it meant you’d be doing less work for them? Were you able to negotiate PTO with HR, 401k contribution while out on military leave of absence, stuff like that? Did your company already have a military leave policy in place?

Sounds like they’ve been pretty supportive and you’ve had a good experience disclosing everything up front.

 

[vxc961]

I’m curious if you could elaborate on that and share the positive experiences you’ve by being up front? Did your employer know about your reserve duties at the time of the interview and did they express interest in helping you reach your goals in the reserves, even if it meant you’d be doing less work for them? Were you able to negotiate PTO with HR, 401k contribution while out on military leave of absence, stuff like that? Did your company already have a military leave policy in place?

Sounds like they’ve been pretty supportive and you’ve had a good experience disclosing everything up front.

I’m dying to hear too. I’ve done my best not to screw/blindside my employer, but I feel like it’s best to keep things held tight until you have to reveal Them, and then do your best to set things up before you leave and hit it hard when you get back.

 

[nittany03]

Just so everyone's aware . . . your employer by law owes you nothing but mil leave that doesn't come out of your PTO. They don't have to pay you; the Navy pays you. They don't have to match your 401(k) during that time; the Navy offers TSP. Many give you more than that, but I wouldn't necessarily make that part of your negotiation when you're trying to join. My management has been nothing but supportive of my reserve job, and my company lets me double dip a little (up to 2 weeks paid mil leave total, one week for IDTs and one week for AT/ADT). But I also do my best to be a good corporate citizen and get my shit taken care of with minimal impact when I leave. Trying to negotiate for additional reserve perks beyond company policy strikes me as a bit too close to "thank me for my service." Take that effort and put it toward getting a good salary and finding a good company culture. Not all of them are as toxic to reservists as what's being described here by some.

 

[MIDNJAC]

^ I'll say that mine is very mil friendly, and also has plenty of reservists. That being said, their policies are oriented towards your typical 1xDWE/mo, 2 weeks AT/yr folk. That is what they know and understand. We get paid leave (and 401k contributions) for 2 weeks AT annually, which doesn't count against any normal PTO. I call that a nice benefit. The harder part is figuring out the additional drills every week and fitting it into a normal work schedule. Same could be said for any additional dets one might want to participate in. Like Nittany mentioned, I try to just do it all in my off time, but there will probably come a time when I will need to drop unpaid mil leave to do an additional det. I think this is a situation where not being the squeaky wheel is probably beneficial. I've done a few 15+ hr days combining drills and a full civvie workday now.......it's not the cush airline+reserves life most folks are used to, but a few times a month isn't too bad and my boss isn't breathing down my neck about not being around. I also live 10 mins from the flight line, so it isn't hard to sign off at work and be at the squadron nearly immediately. This is probably not the case for everyone.

 

[bubblehead]

That's the crazy thing. The Navy GS world has done nothing but hassle me for being a reservist.

That's called a USERRA law suit right there...

...I also do my best to be a good corporate citizen...

Me doing this is directly proportional to how well an employer treats its employees.

 

[scoolbubba]

Just so everyone's aware . . . your employer by law owes you nothing but mil leave that doesn't come out of your PTO. They don't have to pay you; the Navy pays you. They don't have to match your 401(k) during that time; the Navy offers TSP.

This is not necessarily true. It depends on how they treat other types of leaves from work. For instance, and only because my company just lost a lawsuit over this, if one accrues sick/PTO while on leave for jury duty, it's illegal to deny that to reservists on short term mil leave. Same with 401k contributions; if sick time or jury duty pays deemed income and results in contributions, a company can't treat military leave differently.

Similarly, if a company pays nothing for other types of leave, then they aren't treating the reservist differently if they do nothing but offer them time off and keep their position, responsibilities, and pay waiting for them when they return.

 

[Bergers2short]

That's the crazy thing. The Navy GS world has done nothing but hassle me for being a reservist.

It seems to me that some managers at DoD GS jobs feel like they have more leeway to object to an employee's reserve duties because their civilian job is also in a military branch. That's not what the law says, but I've noticed that attitude (also that of a dick swinging competition b/w who deserves your manpower more--civilian DoD location or guard/reserves unit).

 

[taxi1]

I think all GS engineers should be reservists, tasked with using whatever it is they are making. Skin in the game.

It also lets you order them around in times of real crisis. Invol MOB and all that.

 

[SELRES_AMDO]

I think all GS engineers should be reservists, tasked with using whatever it is they are making. Skin in the game.

It also lets you order them around in times of real crisis. Invol MOB and all that.

Throw in the finance and contracting people too. That way they can see how their pettiness and unwillingness to work towards a solution actually affects the people in uniform. Many of them need to be reminded that they are supposed to support the Fleet, not the other way around.