Leave of absence of civil employees

1. a. All officers and employees of the state, a subdivision thereof, or a municipality, other than employees employed temporarily for six months or less, who are members of the national guard, organized reserves or any component part of the military, naval, air, or space forces, or nurse corps of this state or nation, or who are or may be otherwise inducted into the military service of this state or of the United States, or who are members of the civil air patrol, or who are regular, reserve, or auxiliary members of the United States coast guard, shall, when ordered by proper authority to state active duty, national guard duty, or federal active duty, or when performing a civil air patrol mission pursuant to section 29A.3A, be entitled to a leave of absence from such civil employment for the period of state active duty, national guard duty, federal active duty, or civil air patrol duty without loss of status or efficiency rating, and without loss of pay during the first thirty days of such leave of absence. b. Where state active duty, national guard duty, federal active duty, or civil air patrol duty is for a period of less than thirty days, a leave of absence under this section shall only be required for those days that the civil employee would normally perform services for the state, subdivision of the state, or a municipality. The provisions of this section shall also apply to a leave of absence by a member of the national disaster medical system of the United States when activated for federal service with the system. If the workday for a civil employee encompasses a continuous period of up to twenty-four consecutive hours, regardless of whether the workday extends into one or two calendar days, the civil employee shall only be required to take a leave of absence for one day for that workday if a leave of absence is required under this paragraph. 2. A state agency, subdivision of the state, or municipality may hire a temporary employee to fill any vacancy created by such leave of absence. Temporary employees hired to fill a vacancy created by a leave of absence under this section shall not count against the number of full-time equivalent positions authorized for the state agency, subdivision of the state, or municipality. 3. Upon returning from a leave of absence under this section, an employee shall be entitled to return to the same position and classification held by the employee at the time of entry into state active duty, national guard duty, federal active duty, or civil air patrol duty, or to the position and classification that the employee would have been entitled to if the continuous civil service of the employee had not been interrupted by state active duty, national guard duty, federal active duty, or civil air patrol duty. Under this subsection, “position” includes the geographical location of the position.