ST42 Rhode Island (December 2007; updated August 2010 - no changes to law)
1.18: USERRA and Other Laws
2.0: Paid Leave

Differential Pay for State Employees in Rhode Island

By CAPT Samuel F. Wright, JAGC, USN (Ret.)

Rhode Island law provides as follows concerning differential pay for state employees who have been called to active duty:

“(a) Employees of a state agency who are eligible as defined within may qualify for a military pay differential, hereafter also referred to as a "differential". Such differential shall consist of the difference between the base pay for state employment that the state employee would have received if not on active military duty and the military pay that the employee on active military duty did receive, for the same time period. The differential does not include the payment of overtime in state employment.

“(b) In order to be eligible for a military pay differential, a recipient must be a member of the National Guard or a Reserve component of the United States Armed Forces who is currently mobilized in support of a Presidential reserve call-up for active military duty, who at the time of being called for active military duty was an employee of a state department who otherwise qualifies for a military pay differential, as described above.

“(c) The state department where the state employee worked when called to active duty shall periodically pay every employee who qualifies for a military pay differential. The first such payment shall be paid to eligible state employees for military pay differentials between July 1 and September 30. Such stipends shall be calculated for each three (3) month period thereafter, but shall terminate upon the employee's return from active duty or after the employee has received the differential for one year, whichever comes first.

“(d) The director of the department of administration shall be responsible for developing necessary rules and regulations in order to implement the provisions of this section. These rules shall include a process for determining eligibility and the amount of the differential.

“(e) To the extent that compensation for being called to active military duty is not already included in existing collective bargaining agreements, eligible employees of a state agency will qualify for the military pay differential, as defined above. When a collective bargaining agreement provides equal or greater benefits, the terms of the collective bargaining agreement shall control for as long as those benefits under the contract are applicable. Thereafter, those union employees shall be granted the difference in pay as described above.” (Rhode Island General Laws, section 30-6-5.)

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