Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, February 5, 1991                   TAG: 9102050512
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-3   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER MUNICIPAL WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

HARVEY: KEEP PAYING MUNICIPAL WORKERS CALLED UP BY MILITARY

Six city workers in the military reserves have been called to duty, City Manager Robert Herbert said Monday. The six include three police officers, one employee in the Sheriff's Department, one emergency rescue worker and one mechanical/plumbing inspector.

The city should keep paying them if that is legal, Harvey said. If it isn't, the city should make up the difference between their military pay and salaries, he said.

If a change in state law is required, Harvey said he hopes the General Assembly will approve it on an emergency basis.

State law authorizes localities to grant up to three weeks of paid leave to employees for military training. A bill has been introduced in the current session of the legislature to permit the same amount of paid leave for active military duty as well as for training, but Herbert said it is unclear whether localities could approve more than three weeks.

City Attorney Wilburn Dibling will determine whether special legislation is needed and whether it could be approved during the session, Herbert said.

Councilman David Bowers agreed with Harvey's proposal and added that the city also needs to make sure support services are provided to families of workers called to duty.

Herbert said the city's personnel department has been in contact with the workers and their families. The employees will be assured of their jobs when they return, he said.

A retired employee has been hired temporarily to fill the mechanical/plumbing inspector job because of the heavy workload, Herbert said, but the loss of the other workers has not caused major problems.