As we see an uptick in questions around military leave law compliance, recent class action lawsuits and settlements involving Southwest Airlines and United Parcel Service (UPS) serve as a reminder to employers: if you pay for jury duty or bereavement leave, you must treat comparable short-term military leave on equal footing.
The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (“USERRA”) is a federal law that guarantees certain job protections for employees who take military leave. USERRA applies to virtually all employers regardless of size, and covers members of the Armed Forces, Reserves, National Guard and other uniformed services. Among other protections, USERRA entitles employees who take military leave “to such other rights and benefits … as are generally provided by the employer of the person to employees having similar seniority, status, and pay who are on furlough or leave of absence.” Although USERRA itself does not create a right to paid short-term military leave, it does require an employer to treat military leave under USERRA similarly to comparable short-term non-military leaves.
Thus, if an employer pays employees who are out on comparable leave, the employer must also pay employees out on short-term military leave. “Comparable” refers to other types of short-term leave that may have similar characteristics to military leave, such as jury duty, bereavement leave, or court appearances. Whether military leave is comparable to other company-sponsored paid leaves is a question of fact, turning on factors such as the relative duration of leave, control over scheduling leave, and the purpose of the two leaves.
Last fall, Southwest Airlines agreed to pay $18.5 million to settle a USERRA class action litigation in California that alleged the company denied paid leave to employees who went out on short-term military leave. The settlement covers approximately 2,791 Southwest employees. In January 2026, UPS reached a settlement in principle to end a class action litigation in Washington state alleging similar claims.
This obligation is not new. The U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals addressed similar class action claims against Federal Express Corporation, holding in 2021 that employers must pay compensation for military leave when they choose to pay other employees for comparable forms of leave. Additionally, American Airlines has faced similar class action claims alleging the airline failed to pay pilots for periods of short-term military leave and failed to credit the imputed earnings during such short-term military leave periods under the profit-sharing plan.
In the wake of these class action lawsuits and settlements, employers should examine their existing paid leave benefits and programs and, when faced with a request for short-term military leave – often in the cases of Reservists and National Guard members – carefully review the facts and circumstances of the request to determine whether to extend paid leave to employees with short-term military absences.
If you have any questions or would like additional information or assistance in navigating these leave requests, feel free to reach out to Jill S. Welch, Sarah Doyle, or any attorney in Barley Snyder’s Employment Practice Group.
