On June 9th of this year, the Defense Department updated the Reserve Component Military Leave policy to reflect the maternity leave policy change. The policy now states that paid authorized absences in lieu of inactive duty for training for at least 12 training periods, equivalent of three weekends, is allowed for reservists. The law issuing the change in maternity leave went into effect on January 1, 2021. The policy is effective for reservists as of June 9, 2022.
Per the Navy’s message on the leave policy, no “retroactive requests for qualifying birth events on 8 June 2022 or earlier” would be allowed. Prior to June 9, 2022, Reserve members were allowed unpaid maternity leave. During those periods, no accrual of retirement points for those weekends when unpaid leave was utilized. Maternity leave can be utilized for anyone within 12 months of giving birth. The policy specifically states that the commanders cannot deny the use of the leave during the first three months, and to weight the mission with leave after that. Reservists who experience a live birth, stillbirth or suffer a loss after 20 weeks can utilize the paid maternity leave. Reservists must be in good standing to utilize the leave.
The leave policy does not apply to adoptions, or paternity leave.
