When Camden County, Ga. Administrator Barry King signed up for the Army Reserves years ago, he knew there would be sacrifices to make. King knew he would have to spend some weekends away from family and friends, and he knew a time could come when he would be called to serve his country.
When that time arrived in October 2001, King knew that in addition to extended time away from family and friends, his call-up also meant time away from work and more importantly, time away from a regular paycheck.
Fortunately for King, the compensation he received from the military was equivalent to that of what he would have received from the county for his job as administrator.
However, many reservists are not in the same situation and when they are called to serve their country the loss of wages and benefits can have a major impact. That is why, in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, many counties, states, and private companies have agreed to make up the difference in pay for reservists or members of the National Guard called to duty.
According to Employee Support Guard and Reserve (ESGR), there are approximately 1.3 million guard and reservists with more than 80,000 currently on active duty.
“We’ve definitely seen an increase in extended compensation this time around,” said Maj. Debra Stewart of the ESGR public affairs department. “I believe because it was an attack on America and a lot of these people are being called up to protect America, that counties and companies are more willing to extend the compensation.”
In October, the Prince William County, Va. Board of Supervisors approved a compensation package for employees in the National Guard and Reserves called to active duty. The package provides the employees with 100 percent of the difference between their county and military pay and continues to provide health benefits and retirement plan participation.
Sean Connaughton, chairman of the Board of Supervisors, said he presented the package to the board after being approached by several county employees.
“We have a board in Prince William that has a lot of current and former members of the military and we’re very supportive of both the military in general and the participation of our employees in the Guard and Reserves,” Connaughton said. “So if doing this for our employees could take a big worry for them, we knew it was a good thing to do.”
To date, eight of Prince William’s 49 employees who are in the Guard or Reserves have been called to duty. Connaughton is actually in the Reserves as well, but he excused himself as well as the rest of the Board from any sort of compensation.
While there are no definite numbers on how many counties throughout the country are covering the difference in pay or continuing to provide benefits to the families of activated reservists, many counties are doing just that. And while many of the counties providing this extension of benefits are larger and more urban, some rural counties are also involved. For instance, Brooke and Marshall counties in West Virginia are providing extended medical coverage to activated employees and in the case of Brooke, making up the difference in missed salaries.
In Orange County, N.Y. the County Legislature approved a compensation package in October as well. According to Cathy Stagmier, acting commissioner of personnel, there was little resistance to the plan. Stagmier explained that no additional funding was necessary from the county budget because this was money already earmarked for employee salaries and benefits.
“We did something similar to this in ’91 for Desert Storm,” Stagmier said. “Everyone was on board with this from the beginning and we worked with our unions to make sure there were no problems. I think everyone looked at this as an opportunity for the county to do something to help the country and those fighting for it.”
