When President Donald Trump sent National Guard troops to Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., in recent months, some private employers faced unplanned leaves of absence. Here are some considerations for employers to keep in mind when employees take military leave.
Quick Hits
- The Trump administration has deployed troops to Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., in recent months, and the president has named four more cities where he intends to deploy troops.
- Employers must provide job-protected leave to service members who are called to military duty.
- Domestic deployments for natural disasters or other emergencies may impact private employers with regard to their staffing levels, compensation costs, and employee benefits administration.
In June 2025, President Trump deployed about 4,700 National Guard soldiers and U.S. Marines to Los Angeles to support federal immigration enforcement. On August 11, 2025, President Trump deployed about 800 National Guard soldiers to Washington, D.C., to assist local police in preventing crime.
About 1 percent of the U.S. workforce is part of the uniformed services. Under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA), private and public employers are legally obligated to give employees job-protected, unpaid leave when they are called up for duty with the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Space Force, Coast Guard, Reserves, National Guard, Public Health Service, and certain other duties specified by USERRA. Depending on the length of an employee's absence due to military service, USERRA also governs the extent to which the employee is entitled to continue participation in the employer's group benefit plans, the timing within which the employee should seek reinstatement following completion of military service, and the position into which the employee is entitled to be reinstated.
In addition, many states have enacted laws providing various additional leave protections and other entitlements for employees serving in the uniformed services. Some employers provide paid leave and other benefits to employees serving in the military beyond what is required by law.
For many employers and their human resources teams, a common challenge can be a lack of familiarity with USERRA and state military leave laws, compared to other more common leave situations, such as the medical leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), as many employers encounter military leave circumstances less frequently. USERRA is arguably one of the most protective federal employment statutes in existence, providing for up to five years of protected leave and sometimes requiring reinstatement into different, higher roles than the employee held prior to leave (the so-called “escalator position”). Moreover, while USERRA generally does not require employers to provide paid leave or non-seniority-based benefits to employees while on military leave, it does require employers to provide such benefits on at least as generous a basis as are provided to employees on other comparable forms of leave. Thus, when employees take USERRA leave, it can present staffing and scheduling challenges and numerous HR questions for employers.
For example, USERRA generally requires employees to provide advance notice of the need for leave to the employer (with certain exceptions), but there is no specified deadline, and the nature of military orders can sometimes result in very little notice being available to the employer. The duration of military leave also is often uncertain. While an employee may originally receive military orders for a specified time, those orders may be extended or shortened, significantly impacting the amount of leave needed and making the cumulative amount of leave the employee will need difficult to predict in advance.
In some circumstances, employers may choose to reassign work to other coworkers or hire other workers to cover business needs while an employee is on military leave, but employers may be required to displace such workers in order to reinstate the employees on leave after their military service has concluded. Employers may need to coordinate with third-party vendors that handle payroll and benefits to ensure compliance with USERRA and applicable state laws while the employee is on military leave, such as with respect to an employee's election to remain on company-sponsored health benefits.
Next Steps
Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., were the first cities that experienced domestic deployments this year. Looking ahead, President Trump has named Baltimore, Chicago, New York, and Oakland, California, in his public discussions about the next possible locations for domestic deployments. Given the tempo of these domestic deployments, it is reasonable to anticipate an increased use of USERRA-protected leave and benefits in the workforce, and employers may want to proactively ensure that their HR teams are up to speed on USERRA and applicable state law requirements.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
