Preparations for the first SVK Armed Forces Active Reserves exercise continue

The Ministry of Defence is gearing up for the first exercise of the Active Reserves to be held in May of this year. The employers of the soldiers assigned to the Active Reserves have received a letter from the SVK Armed Forces, informing them of their respective rights and obligations above and beyond the legal provisions of applicable legislation. In view of the fact that this is a pilot project the MOD underscores the importance of providing the public with as much information as possible. According to law, the concerned employers are obliged to grant eligible employees an authorised leave from work for a specified period as well as an additional day of leave from work, provided that the journey from the place of the employee's residence or workplace to the place of destination takes more than 6 hours by public transport. This rule also applies to the return journey, so there is also an entitlement for employees to an additional day of leave for transport. For the duration of the authorised leave, the employees are entitled to a refund of their average salary, whereas the military unit assumes responsibility for refunding the employers' costs. The documents for refunding the costs related to the authorised leave from work will be delivered to the employers after the end of the regular training activity. The training for the Active Reserves will be conducted from 15 to 26 May 2017. The first 40 members of the Active Reserves will receive training as part of the pilot project. For each calendar year of service in the Active Reserves, the soldiers will be entitled to a motivational incentive of 600 euros, which will be payable retrospectively, on the condition that they complete at least 75 per cent of the training programme. The use of the Active Reserves in peacetime has been made possible since January of this year thanks to the Conscription Amendment Act. The training of the Active Reserves will be conducted in compliance with the SVK Government Manifesto Commitments and the White Paper on Defence of the Slovak Republic.