SB377: Health insurance; benefits for reservists called to active duty.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That §§ 44-93.1 and 44-93.5 of the Code of Virginia are amended and reenacted as follows:
§ 44-93.1. Supplement of military pay and additional life insurance benefits for employees of Commonwealth or political subdivisions.
A. In addition to the paid military leave provisions of §
44-93, the Commonwealth or any political subdivision of the Commonwealth may
supplement the military pay of its officers and employees who are reservists or
national guard members called to federally funded military duty in an amount
necessary to bring their total salary, inclusive of their base military pay, to
the level earned at the time they were called to federally funded military
duty. The employer shall continue to provide any health insurance
benefits to such officers and employees, and any dependents who were
covered under the officer or
employee's health insurance benefits prior to being called to federally funded
military duty, and may also, in its discretion, continue to
provide any health insurance and other existing
benefits to such officers and employees.
B. In addition to any other benefit provided by law, if an
employee of the Commonwealth or of any political subdivision has been called to
federal active duty services under Title 10 of the United States Code, the
Commonwealth shall provide an additional death benefit in the amount of $20,000
to be paid if the employee is killed in action in any armed conflict while
serving with any reserve component of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force,
or Coast Guard or with any unit of these respective services of the United
States. In addition, the dependents of such employee shall
be eligible to continue to be covered under the employee's health insurance plan in the same
manner as they were covered prior to the employee being
called to federally funded military duty for a period of 12 months after the employee's death.
§ 44-93.5. Penalties for denial.
If any employer fails or refuses to comply with the provisions of §§ 44-93, 44-93.1, 44-93.2, 44-93.3 and 44-93.4, the circuit court having jurisdiction over the employer's place of business may, upon the filing of a motion, petition, or other appropriate pleading by the employee, require the employer to comply with §§ 44-93, 44-93.2, 44-93.3 and 44-93.4 and to compensate the employee for any loss of wages or benefits suffered by reason of the employer's unlawful failure or refusal. Upon request of the affected employee, the Attorney General may represent personally or through one of his assistants, such employee denied the benefits of §§ 44-93, 44-93.1, 44-93.2, 44-93.3 and 44-93.4 while in the performance of state active duty.