Did a South Carolina public employee’s military-leave day mean eight hours even on a longer regular shift?

Plain-English summary

A fire district asked whether a military-leave “day” was an eight-hour block or the employee’s regularly scheduled shift, and whether public employers could require vacation or compensatory time after annual military leave was exhausted. The Deputy AG reiterated an earlier office reading that the statute counted regular workdays without fixing their length. Employees with twelve-, sixteen-, or twenty-four-hour shifts could take up to fifteen such scheduled workdays under the annual provision described.

For an emergency call-up, the author identified a statutory allowance of up to thirty additional days. For extra nonemergency duty, he said the answer depended on the applicable local personnel policy, which his office would not interpret. He did not announce a universal rule requiring or forbidding use of vacation or compensatory time in that latter setting.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 1997. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

Common questions

Q: Did a twelve-hour shift use more than one leave day? A: Under the author’s reading, no. The measure was a regularly scheduled workday, without conversion to eight-hour units.

Q: What did the opinion say about an emergency call-up? A: It quoted § 8-7-90 as allowing up to thirty additional leave days for the covered public employee called to serve during an emergency.

Q: Did the AG decide how nonemergency duty beyond annual leave affected vacation time? A: No. He said the applicable local personnel policy controlled that question and declined to interpret it.

Background and statutory framework

The letter applied § 8-7-90 and relied on a prior office opinion about “regularly scheduled work day.” It discussed the statute’s liberal-construction language and separately addressed the emergency leave allowance.

Citations and references

Statute discussed: § 8-7-90.

Source

• Landing page: https://www.scag.gov/opinions/opinions-archive/march-17-1997/
• Original PDF: https://www.scag.gov/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/97march17courtney.pdf

Original opinion text

The State of South Carolina

OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
CHARLES MOLONY CO'.'iDO:\
ATTORNEY GE"iERc\L

March 17, 1997

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The Honorable C. Tyrone Courtney
Senator, District No. 13
Box 2229
Spartanburg, South Carolina 29304
Re: Informal Opinion
Dear Senator Courtney:

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You recently fotwarded to me a letter from the Croft Fire District seeking clarification with respect to Title 8, Chapter 7 of the South Carolina Code of Laws. Specifically, Chief Mullinax has inquired whether for the purposes of computing military leave, does the term "day" mean a 24 hour period or does it mean a common 8 hour workday. Moreover, Chief Mullinax asks whether state, local and municipal governments can force their employees who are in the National Guard or Reserves to use vacation and/or compensatory time in connection with their military duties after they have exhausted their fifteen days of annual military leave. In response to Chief Mullinax's first question, enclosed for your review is a copy of Op. Atty. Gen., (July 8, 1996). As you can see, this Office has previously held that Title 8, Chapter 7 of the S.C. Code "... does not attempt to define the phrase 'regularly scheduled work day' by reference to a specific number of working hours. In other words, the number of regularly scheduled work hours that compose a work day is not a consideration in interpreting [§ 8-7-90]." (Emphasis added.) Accordingly, those state, county and municipal government employees whose regularly scheduled work day is longer than eight hours, e.g., twelve, sixteen, or twenty-four hour shifts, are statutorily authorized to take up to fifteen such regularly scheduled work days in any one year for military leave. This interpretation most clearly effectuates the legislative mandate that the provisions of § 8-7-90 "... must be construed liberally to encourage and allow full

The Honorable C. Tyrone Courtney
Page 2
March 17, 1997
participation in all aspects of the National Guard and reserve programs of the United States .... " (Emphasis added.) As to Chief Mullinax's second question, I again call your attention to S.C. Code Ann. § 8-7-90, which provides in relevant part:

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In the event any [officer or employee of this State or a political subdivision thereof who is a member of the South Carolina National Guard or a United States reserve program and who] is called upon to serve during an emergency he is entitled to such leave of absence for not exceeding thirty additional days. [Emphasis added.]

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Accordingly, this provision authorizes up to thirty additional days of leave for employees of the State and its political subdivisions who are called up for military duty during a time of emergency. Both the South Carolina Supreme Court and this Office have defined "emergency" under state law as "an unforeseen occurrence or combination of circumstances which calls for immediate action or remedy; pressing necessity; exigency." Hice v. Dobson Lumber Co., 180 S.C. 259, 185 S.E. 742 (1936); Ops. Atty. Gen. (December 5, 1983 and August 22, 1990). Questions involving any extra days of nonemergency military duty should be resolved by reference to the applicable local personnel policy, which this Office would have no jurisdiction to interpret.

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This letter is an informal opinion only. It has been written by a designated Deputy Attorney General and represents the position of the undersigned attorney as to the specific questions asked. It has not, however, been personally scrutinized by the Attorney General nor officially published in the manner of a formal opinion.

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With kind regards, I am
Very truly yours,

/d/Jdl~
Zeb C. Williams, III
Deputy Attorney General
ZCW,III/an
Enclosure
cc:
David L. Mullinax, Chief
(With Enclosure)