Request By:
D. Allen Youngman
Owensboro Federal Savings & Loan Building
Owensboro, Kentucky 42301
Opinion
Opinion By: Steven L. Beshear, Attorney General; Martin Glazer, Assistant Attorney General
You ask the following question:
"Do the provisions of KRS 61.394 and 61.396 as amended require municipal governments in the Commonwealth of Kentucky to pay an employee's regular salary during such employee's annual military leave?"
KRS 61.396 provides:
"All officers and employes of counties, municipalities, school districts or other political subdivisions of the state who are members of the national guard or any reserve component of the armed forces of the United States, including the United States public health service, shall be granted annual military leave by their respective employers as provided in KRS 61.394." (Emphasis supplied.)
Prior to 1978, this statute stated, "may be granted annual military leave." It seems clear that the Kentucky General Assembly intended to require the payment of annual military leave after 1978 by municipalities in the same manner that state employers were required to pay for such leave.
So, the answer to your question is, "yes."