As a reservist, can I get paid for my civilian Job while on orders, off-duty? Can I get paid after duty hours on drill weekends?

2023-07-22T17:45:53-04:00

Thinking about legal ramifications. Not sure where to start looking for answers.

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 22 at 2023 6:01 PM

2023-07-22T18:01:31-04:00

Contact one of these three gentlemen... they are very knowledgeable in Military related questions/issues.

Response by COL Randall C. made Jul 22 at 2023 6:07 PM

2023-07-22T18:07:46-04:00

1LT Private RallyPoint Member, if you're asking if there is any law that prevents you from collecting civilian pay while you're collecting military pay when you're a reservists? No. However, you cannot conduct other non-military paid employment tasks while on "military time".

Can you get paid after duty hours? Absolutely. Many reservists have weekend jobs that they go to after drill. As far as "can I work in a civilian job if I'm on active duty orders", that falls into another category which I could go into if you want, but basically you need permission, it can't adversely reflect on the military, ethics review (for senior individuals), etc.

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 22 at 2023 8:51 PM

2023-07-22T20:51:30-04:00

I can't imagine a reservist needing approval to have outside employment. A huge number of reservist professionals do their day jobs after hours on drill or AT when in an environment where that's possible.

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 25 at 2023 2:33 AM

2023-07-25T02:33:29-04:00

Sounds like you got your answer.

I guess the most complicated situation would be working during a Battle Assembly after one is dismissed for the day. We are all still accountable during the whole period from say 00:01 on Saturday through 23:59 on Sunday.

I've never heard of anyone not being allowed to go to a second job after a BA. It is not an uncommon situation.

Annual Training might be a little more complicated, but if it's not conflicting with your military working day then again, I can't imagine a chain of command saying no.

I have literally given an approval memo to one of my previous AGR's to work a second job (holiday swing work for extra Christmas money, so goes the soldier's justification). So it was even allowed by Army policy in a reverse context. The justification memo was within Army guidelines.

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Where this becomes a "Problem" is when the jobs are from the same employer. So if say your job was a federal job, or even worse a DOD related job, then it's starts to cause problems. You'd be getting paid by the same employer for what can potentially be seen as overlapping work hours, or possibly cause problems for the employer because now you are working more than normal work hours, and would they start to be considered overtime?

A perfect example of this would be a MIL Tech who is a TPU in your unit, but a MIL Tech in an entirely different USAR unit. I have seen such Mil Techs draw a line, and say NOPE!!!!!!!!!!! I'm not going to log into my MIL Tech resources for this unit, they are not part of the unit chain of command wanting to utilize the MIL Tech access. I get it I guess. They are not going to get paid for both roles at the same time.

However, most of the time, Mil Techs not in the chain of command as TPUs are still accommodating. I guess it's the crusty one's that are fed up.

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The MAIN THING NOT TO DO is say to work non army related work things you are getting paid for while on the clock at Battle Assembly. I imagine a lot of people do it, and get away with it, but it's a huge risk to expose yourself to if someone wanted to bring the hammer down on top of other conduct related issues.