St. Paul Extends Paid Military Leave Policy

The St. Paul Companies has extended its military leave policy for all company employees who volunteer for, or are called to active full-time military service in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

The insurer usually provides up to two weeks of salary and benefits for military leave. But under the new policy, any employees on active duty in the armed forces will remain on the company payroll for up to 12 months at regular salary, subject to an offset for military pay.

Additionally, they can maintain their company benefits, including health insurance, retirement and vacation, for up to one year, the insurer said.

David Nachbar, senior vice president, human resources at The St. Paul explained that this is one way in which the company can serve its employees when they are called to serve their country. “For our employees who are military reservists, we want to allay any concerns they may have about being able to provide for their families while they're away,” he said.

Mr. Nachbar stressed that the company's primary operating principal is “to do the right thing,” and that this measure “is absolutely the right thing to do.”

He also called on other insurer human resources executives to adopt similar policies by conveying this message to colleagues at the Insurance Conference Group–which is a professional association of human resources leaders worldwide–and at the Human Resources Advisory Council, a group of large corporate human resources leaders.

“Reservists and volunteers are thinking about how military leave will affect them,” Mr. Nachbar noted. “Lengthening military leave policies is something corporations can do to respond to the needs of their employees.”

Reproduced from National Underwriter Property & Casualty/Risk & Benefits Management Edition, October 29, 2001. Copyright 2001 by The National Underwriter Company in the serial publication. All rights reserved.Copyright in this article as an independent work may be held by the author.

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St. Paul Extends Paid Military Leave Policy

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