If you employ a member of the reserved forces within your organisation, you may find they are very capable, disciplined and can bring significant benefits to the business. Lucie Benson talks to Tim Corry, campaign director at SaBRE, to find out how their military commitments could affect you and where you stand if they’re mobilised.

Many organisations will be able to count a member of the reserved forces as one of their staff. Even though reservists need time off for training or have lengthy periods of leave if mobilised, employing a reservist need not be complicated. In fact, the benefits can actually be considerable, with many making an extremely positive contribution to the business.

Reservists are members of the armed forces, who are able to boost the capability of regular units during military operations. They are men and women from all backgrounds, regions and types of work who give up their time to train and serve alongside the regular forces.

“The benefits of employing reservists work on two levels,” comments Tim Corry, campaign director at SaBRE (Supporting Britain’s Reservists and Employers), a national campaign set up by the Ministry of Defence to gain and maintain the support of employers of reservists. “Firstly, the reservists come back with transferable skills that are relevant to the business itself. These are a combination of soft and hard skills; the soft skills include leadership, team working and communications skills, while the hard skills for the business are, for example, health and safety, IT and so on.”

The other level is from an employer’s perspective, says Corry. “This comes under the corporate social responsibility (CSR) banner, because it marks that organisation as being a good employer, and many individuals want to work for an organisation that does actually pay attention to CSR. So it is a benefit from a recruitment and retention point of view.”

Leave from work

Reservists may need time off from work, for training or mobilisation, for example. Training typically consists of one evening a week, one weekend a month and a 15-day continuous training period, usually in the summer. An employer is under no obligation to grant additional paid or unpaid leave for this (although many are happy to do so) and employer rights are set out in legislation.

“In terms of employer rights, there must be an ongoing dialogue with that reservist so there aren’t any surprises in what that reservist is required to do,” says Corry. “So that would cover things like any training that may impact on company time, or, at the other end of the spectrum, if that reservist is likely to be called up for mobilisation, early notification to the line manager and employer is obviously going to help the employer manage the absence of that individual.”

With regards to employer obligation, if a reservist is called up for mobilisation, the employer needs to let that individual go, unless there is a good, solid business reason against it. “In addition, even though an employer can fill that position while the individual is away, when they return they ought to offer their job, or a comparable job back to them, having been de-mobilised,” adds Corry.

The legislation in place for this includes the Reserve Forces Act 1996, which allows a reservist to be called up for mobilisation. “There are get-out clauses in that though,” remarks Corry. “If an employer says that an individual’s absence, when called up, will severely disrupt the business at a particular time, then they can apply for an exemption or a deferral of mobilisation. That case will be looked at – both the military and business case – by an investigation officer and they will make a ruling on that.”

The other piece of legislation relates to when the employee returns from mobilisation or period of absence. “This is covered under the Reserve Forces (Safeguard of Employment) Act 1985, and the employer is obligated to offer that job back again,” explains Corry.

Financial assistance

Another important issue to be aware of, when employing reservists in your organisation, is salary, pension and financial assistance. “When a reservist is away, the employer doesn’t have to continue paying them, although most employers may continue to pay into the pension scheme,” says Corry. “But actually the military will pick up any employer contributions to the pension of the absent employee.”

In terms of direct financial assistance, employers can receive the cost of advertising for a replacement for that job. “They can also get an administrative supplement of £110 a week, which covers the ongoing administration they might have that applies to that individual because they are still on the books, although temporarily absent,” adds Corry.

Finally, when that employee returns, if there is a requirement to re-train that individual if they are out-of-date for example, there is the cost covered for any training required to get that individual back into the workplace.

HR policies

Some organisations may choose to have a separate policy for employing reservists. However, Corry advises that it should sit within the main HR policy and alongside other volunteering roles, such as school governors or part-time police.

“The company may decide, for example, to give additional leave so that individual can train during the year in company time. Typically, a reservist has to go away with the unit for a block of two weeks. An employer isn’t obligated to give them extra leave for that, but many give anything from a week’s extra unpaid leave, up to an extra two weeks’ paid leave. So that sort of thing should sit within any HR policy for reservists, although of course it is up to the employer’s discretion and generosity.”