Wednesday, May 7, 2003

Fayetteville employees get special military leave benefits By JOHN MUNFORD jmunford@TheCitizenNews.com Fayetteville city employees who are called to serve in the U.S. military now have a few benefits beyond those required by federal law. Those employees will be allowed to continue their regular benefits through the city and continue to accrue annual, sick and holiday leave while they serve in the military, according to a plan unanimously approved by the Fayetteville City Council at its meeting Thursday night. Also, those employees will receive differential pay if their military salary is lower than what they receive from the city. Council also voted to "speed up" the annual performance review for those employees which determines whether or not they will receive a raise. The affected employees will be eligible for a pay for performance raise after they have been back with the city for 90 days. City Manager Joe Morton said the city didn't want to have employees waiting a year or more after their return to go through a performance review. Currently the city has one employee on active military duty. Council agreed to make these benefits retroactive to Sept. 11, 2001, so it could cover another employee who was called to military service after the terrorist attacks and has since returned to his position with the city. What do you think of this story? Click here to send a message to the editor. Back to the News Home Page| Back to the top of the page