AN ACT AUTHORIZING THE CITY OF CAMBRIDGE TO PAY FULL SALARY AND BENEFITS TO CITY EMPLOYEES WHO ARE ASSIGNED TO AND PRESENT IN A THEATER OF COMBAT OPERATIONS SUCH AS IRAQ OR AFGHANISTAN.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same as follows:
SECTION 1. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, an employee of the city of Cambridge, including the Cambridge school department, who has been granted a military leave of absence because the employee is a member of the army national guard, the air national guard or a reserve component of the armed services called to active service in the armed forces of the United States after September 11, 2001, and who has been assigned to a theater of combat operations, such as Iraq or Afghanistan, shall be entitled to receive his regular base salary as a city of Cambridge employee or an employee of the Cambridge school department, as the case may be, for each pay period during his military leave of absence without reduction by any amount received from the United States as pay or allowance for military service performed during the same pay period. An employee eligible under this section shall not lose any seniority or any accrued vacation leave, sick leave, personal leave or retirement service credits as a result of his military service.
SECTION 2. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the city of Cambridge may expend in the current fiscal year costs incurred in prior fiscal years associated with the payment of salary and paid leave time to an employee eligible pursuant to this act.
SECTION 3. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the city of Cambridge, including the Cambridge school department, may provide up to 5 calendar days of pre-deployment, paid leave time to any employee in its service who has requested a military leave of absence because the employee is a member of the army national guard, the air national guard or a reserve component of the armed services called to active service in the armed forces of the United States and who is subject to deployment orders assigning him to a theater of combat operations, such as Iraq or Afghanistan, and requiring that he be on military leave for at least 90 days. This pre-deployment leave shall not count towards personal, sick, vacation or other leave time and shall not be deducted from creditable service for retirement purposes.
Approved November 8, 2007.