basic training

[tonyc]

i want to join the guard but keep my civilian job/pay. my job will match the difference in my military pay and my civilian yearly salary. but they will only do this if im called to full active duty. does basic/advance training count as active duty?

[Madjack6]

yes, that is considered active duty

[Pv.stippich]

you are not allowed to be fired or demoted for going to basic.
pv.stippich

[doubtfuldarhma]

My job offers almost the same thing except - they won't match while I am at basic or ait - it has to be an active duty call up from the Governor or President. You might want to check with your HR to make sure on your companies policy. However, while I'm at basic and AIT I'll still get my scheduled raises and my Personal time allotment.

[rgreen]

My job has a similar policy but it's a little different. They provide a "differential pay" for any absence up to 30 days (cover the difference between the Guard pay and my civilian job. For ex., say I get paid $900 a week at my civilian job and I get paid $300 a week from the guard. While on duty, my job would pay me the $600 difference a week). That absence can be active duty, training, the 2 week summer duty, etc.

If I'm gone for more than 30 days (basic training, AIT, deployed, etc), than I would not receive the differential pay or benfits, because it's assumed the Guard is paying me. But once I return to work, I receive the same salary I had when I left & an equivalent position if not the same one.

[AbnMtn]

Get clarification from your job as to what exactly they consider active duty. As you can see by some of the previous posts, some jobs don't consider Basic and AIT active duty, others only consider it active duty when called up by your state's governor or by the federal government, and there are also those jobs that woud only pay differential if you're not only called up by the federal government but also deployed (they would not pay differential if it's a state call up).

It's great that so many companies step up and help members of the Armed Forces make the difference in pay when they are activated. Let them know you appreciate their help.