However, it was still not as “beneficial” to the employee as full pay during the LOA. According to reports, sometime in 2017, Walmart began providing “differential pay” – the difference between what the employee would earn at Walmart and his/her actual pay while in the uniformed service. Walmart’s policies allegedly provided full pay for employees on short-term LOA for such reasons as bereavement leave and jury duty. 150(b).Īlthough USERRA does not require employers to pay servicemembers for a military LOA, it does require that they receive the most favorable LOA benefits provided to any other employees on a comparable LOA. The class action lawsuit alleges that Walmart violated the USERRA requirement that employers provide servicemember employees the most favorable leave of absence policy for any comparable leave of absence. Plaintiff, NickolasTsui, a servicemember employee, claims that he was not provided a paid leave of absence for military service while employed by Walmart. Public sources indicate that the settlement included $14 million to be paid to class members who were servicemember employees on a military LOA sometime during the past ten years. Today (January 5, 2021) Walmart announced that it has settled a class action lawsuit arising from its military leave of absence (LOA) policies. Do not ignore or delay compliance with USERRA. It also imposes significant penalties upon those who willfully ignore it and refuse to understand the obligations it imposes upon employers and the benefits it guarantees to employees who are called to military service. The Uniformed Services Employment Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (“USERRA”) contains many pitfalls for unwary employers. USERRA Compliance Alert: Class Action Suit Arose From Walmart’s Non-Compliant Military Leave of Absence Policies

Walmart bereavement benefits