One of your best people just got orders. They are headed to active duty for the next several months, maybe longer. Now you are staring at a coverage gap, a list of questions, and a real worry about getting the legal part right.

This happens more than most managers expect. Guard and Reserve members hold full-time civilian jobs. When their unit gets called up, you have to keep the business running and protect that employee's job at the same time. The law that governs this is USERRA. It applies to every employer, big or small, public or private.

I am Brad Tachi. I served as a Navy Diver, and I built Best Military Resume after my own messy transition out of the service. Over the last two years our team has worked with thousands of service members. That includes Guard and Reserve members who carry both a uniform and a civilian paycheck. This guide walks you through the whole process. From the day the notice lands to the day they walk back in.

This is the end-to-end playbook for managing a deployment. For the deeper legal mechanics of getting someone their job back, read our USERRA employer obligations guide. For the return-to-work deadlines and the escalator rule, see the escalator principle and 5-year rule breakdown.

What Should You Do When You Get the Notice?

The first thing to know is that the employee must give you notice. They can do it in writing or out loud. It can be informal. It does not have to follow any set format. The U.S. Department of Labor's USERRA program spells this out clearly.

The Defense Department recommends at least 30 days of advance notice when it is feasible. But sometimes it is not feasible. Military necessity or short-fuse orders can make early notice impossible. If that happens, the late notice does not cost the employee their rights. You still have to honor the leave.

Most managers get this part wrong. You cannot demand paperwork before the leave starts. Asking to see orders as a condition of letting them go is not allowed. The rules on documentation kick in later, and only for longer absences. We cover that below.

So when the notice lands, your job is simple. Acknowledge it. Thank them. Start planning. Do not turn it into an interrogation.

When Can You Ask for Documentation?

You can ask for documentation, but the timing and the trigger matter. Under 20 CFR 1002.121, you may request documentation only when the period of service runs more than 30 days. And you request it in connection with their return, not before they leave.

For service of 30 days or less, you cannot ask for documentation at all. The employee gives notice, serves, and comes back. That is the whole flow for a short drill period or a brief activation.

For service that runs more than 30 days, the documentation does three things. It shows their application to come back was timely. It shows they have not blown past the 5-year cumulative service limit. And it shows their separation from service was not disqualifying. That is it. You are not entitled to a full medical file or mission details.

One more thing. If the employee does not have the documentation, or it does not exist yet, that does not let you deny reemployment. Military paperwork is slow. You reinstate them, and they provide the records when they can.

What Benefits Continue During the Leave?

Health coverage is the big one. The employee can elect to keep their health plan while they are away. The maximum is 24 months, or the day they fail to return or apply to come back, whichever comes first. The rule lives in 20 CFR 1002.164.

What they pay depends on how long they serve. For service of 30 days or less, they pay no more than the normal employee share. For service of 31 days or more, you can charge up to 102% of the full premium. That covers your share, their share, and a 2% administrative add-on. This mirrors how COBRA works.

Retirement benefits keep building too. Time on military leave counts as continued service for vesting and pension purposes. When they come back, they get to make up missed contributions to plans like a 401(k), and you match what you would have matched.

Seniority-based benefits keep moving forward as if they never left. This is the escalator idea. They do not freeze in place. They keep climbing the ladder they would have climbed had they stayed at their desk.

How Do You Plan Coverage While They Are Gone?

The legal piece protects the employee. The coverage piece protects your operation. You need both. A deployment can run six months, a year, or longer, so plan like the seat will be empty for a while.

Start with a knowledge handoff before they leave. Sit down and document what only they know. Vendor contacts, login owners, recurring tasks, the quirks of that one client. A two-hour debrief now saves you weeks of guessing later.

Then decide how to fill the gap. You have a few clean options. Pick based on the role and how long they will be out.

Whatever you choose, do not eliminate the position. The returning member is entitled to their job back, or the job they would have grown into. Backfilling is fine. Erasing the role is not.

Should You Stay in Touch During Deployment?

Yes, but keep it light and optional. The goal is to keep the connection warm, not to pull them back into work email. They have a mission. Respect that.

A short check-in once a month or so works well. Forward the company newsletter. Send a holiday note. Let them know their seat is waiting. Small gestures tell a deployed employee they still belong on the team.

Never pressure them to answer work questions or join calls. They are on military duty, not a working vacation. Mixing the two creates legal risk and just feels wrong to someone in the field.

Set one point of contact before they leave. Pick a manager or HR person who handles any questions about pay, benefits, or the return date. That way the deployed employee has one clear line in, and one clear line out. No mixed messages from five different people while they are downrange.

If you have other Guard and Reserve members on staff, point your managers to the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve program. ESGR is a free Defense Department resource that helps employers handle exactly these situations.

How Do You Prepare for Their Return?

Reemployment is a right, not a favor. When they apply to come back on time, you put them back. The deadline to report or apply depends on how long they served. For service of 30 days or less, they report the next workday. For 31 to 180 days, they have 14 days to apply for reemployment. For service over 180 days, they have 90 days.

Plan for the return before it happens. Reactivate their accounts. Get their workspace ready. Brief them on what changed while they were gone. New systems, new clients, new faces. A returning member who walks into chaos feels like an afterthought.

Place them on the escalator. That means the job, pay, and seniority they would have reached if they had stayed. Not the exact seat they left, but the rung they would have climbed to. If a raise cycle or promotion window passed, factor that in.

They also get a protected period after they return. For service of 31 to 180 days, they cannot be fired without cause for 180 days after reemployment. For service over 180 days, that window runs one year. This is not a trap. It just means you document performance like you would for anyone, and you do not treat the deployment as a reason to push them out.

Why This Pays Off for Your Business

Handling a deployment well is more than staying out of legal trouble. It is a retention move. A service member who came back to a team that had their back will run through a wall for you. Word travels fast in the military community.

Guard and Reserve members bring real value. They train constantly. They show up. They handle pressure. They lead. When you treat their service as an asset instead of a hassle, you build a reputation that pulls in more of them.

That is where a steady pipeline matters. Best Military Resume adds over 1,000 new veteran profiles every month, and our community has built more than 60,000 resumes. When you need to replace a seat or grow the team with people who already know how to operate, the talent is there.

If you are building a deployment policy from scratch, start with our military leave policy template for employers. And if you want the full picture on recruiting and retaining this group, read the guide to hiring National Guard and Reserve members.

What to Do from Here

Managing a deployed employee comes down to a few clear moves. Accept the notice without demanding paperwork up front. Ask for documentation only for service over 30 days, and only at return. Keep their health coverage and benefits running. Plan smart coverage for the open seat. Stay in touch lightly. Put them back on the escalator when they come home.

Get this right and you do two things at once. You stay on the right side of USERRA. And you keep a high-performer who will remember how you handled it. That is a win on both sides of the desk.

When you are ready to grow your team with veterans and Guard and Reserve members who already know how to lead under pressure, reach out to access BMR's veteran talent pool. Over 1,000 new profiles join every month.