employmentstate

State Active Duty Carries the Federal Job Protections — and a Court to Enforce Them

A Guard member ordered to STATE active duty gets the same employment rights, privileges and protections as a member called under the federal training law — and the statute puts the remedy in the Superior Court, with damages available.

Verified August 23, 2026

What this benefit is

What it's worth: Federal-equivalent employment protection for state active duty, enforceable in the Superior Court

The section closes the gap that catches Guard members: federal reemployment law is written around federal service, and a state call-out is not federal service.
The remedy named is a suit in the Superior Court of this state, with damages or other appropriate relief.
The protection is against the employer’s failure to comply, whether the underlying duty was federal or state.

Who is entitled to it

You have served or are serving.
Your home is in this state.

Not sure whether that describes you?

Answer a few questions about this benefit specifically — we only ask what this one actually depends on, and we stop as soon as we know.

How to claim it

1Give your employer the state call-out orders in writing and keep a copy. The protection is only as good as the record that you invoked it.
2Say plainly that state active duty carries the same rights, privileges and protections as federal training duty — many employers assume a state call-out is unprotected, and the statute says otherwise.
3Keep dates: the day the orders issued, the day you told the employer, the day you reported and the day you sought to return.
4If the employer does not comply, the section names the Superior Court and allows recovery of damages or other appropriate relief. Take advice before filing.

File with: Your employer first; the Superior Court if the employer does not comply
No renewal: Once granted it does not need renewing.

CorrectionThe common assumption is that only federal orders protect a civilian job. This section says a member ordered to STATE active duty gets the same rights, privileges and protections — which is exactly the situation a Guard member is in during a storm or a civil emergency.

Worth knowingThe statute supplies a forum, not just a right. Naming the Superior Court and allowing damages matters, because a protection with no named remedy is usually the one an employer ignores.

Known gapThe section states no notice period, no maximum leave and no limit on how often the protection can be used. Those may sit in the federal law it borrows from rather than in this text.

Sources

authority · statute20 Del. C. §905 — Leaves of absence for members of reserve on temporary active duty

Why only one source type: The section states the equivalence to federal protection, the reach to state active duty and the court remedy in its own text.

This finder provides an informational match, not a government eligibility determination. The responsible agency decides your application.