CO Code § 24-50-302 (2021)
2021 Colorado Code|Title 24 - Government - State|Article 50 - State Personnel System - Department of Personnel|Part 3 - Employees in Military Service|§ 24-50-302. Rights

  The rights, privileges, and status retained by such officer or employee shall specifically include the right to reoccupy the place, employment, or position held by him at the time of entering the armed forces upon the expiration of the period of initial service, plus any period of additional service imposed by law, and for one year thereafter; except that, if such officer or employee served in any branch of the armed forces of the United States during any period and if he was separated or served under honorable conditions, the period of such service shall be considered as service in the personnel system of the state of Colorado for the purposes of seniority and for the purposes of promotion from one pay grade to another as well as movement from one step of the pay plan to a higher step in the pay plan and if the place, employment, or class held by such officer or employee at the time of entering the armed forces has been increased in pay grade during the time of such service, such officer or employee shall be entitled to reoccupy such place, employment, or position at such increased pay grade.    Said rights, privileges, and status retained by such officer or employee shall also specifically include the right to remain upon and hold his place upon any list of persons certified as eligible for appointment to places, employment, or positions in the state personnel system at the time of entering the armed forces during such period of initial service, plus any period of additional service imposed by law, and for one year thereafter, regardless of the expiration date of any such list of certified persons; except that, if such officer or employee has not acquired a certified state personnel system status but has been employed by this state for a period of one year or less, such officer or employee shall have the right to reoccupy the place, employment, or position held by him at the time of entering the armed forces upon the expiration of the initial period of service, plus any period of additional service imposed by law, and for one year thereafter, with the right to hold said place, employment, or position for the full term of his probationary period from the date of his reoccupying the same or until an examination is held therefor and a person is duly certified thereto.     Source: L. 72: R&RE, p. 179, § 1. C.R.S. 1963: § 26-2-2. L. 73: p. 426, § 14.   ANNOTATION   <b> Provisions applicable regardless of whether or not war or national emergency exists. </b> The provisions of this section and <cite class="occo"><a href="gov.co.crs.title.24.html#t24-statepersonnelsystemandstateemployees-ar50-s24-50-301" target="_self">§ 24-50-301</a></cite> are operative at all times as to state civil service employees who enter military service, regardless of whether or not there exists a war or other national emergency. Civil Serv. Comm'n v. Fleming, 183Colo. 71, 514 P.2d 1135 (1973), cert. denied, 415 U.S. 977, 94 S. Ct. 1564, 39 L. Ed. 2d 873 (1974).   <b> Public employee is not allowed to voluntarily make military career. </b> This section and <cite class="occo"><a href="gov.co.crs.title.24.html#t24-statepersonnelsystemandstateemployees-ar50-s24-50-301" target="_self">§ 24-50-301</a></cite> do not allow any former public employee to voluntarily make a career in the military service until retirement therefrom and then, after the termination of his self-chosen military career, to return to state employment and be awarded all the rights and privileges that would have accrued if he had never left his state civilian employment. Civil Serv. Comm'n v. Fleming, 183Colo. 71, 514 P.2d 1135 (1973), cert. denied, 415 U.S. 977, 94 S. Ct. 1564, 39 L. Ed. 2d 873 (1974).   Reinstatement is contingent upon returning within year after service. Reinstatement is contingent upon the employee returning to state employment within one year after the period of initial service or additional service imposed by law. Civil Serv. Comm'n v. Fleming, 183Colo. 71, 514 P.2d 1135 (1973), cert. denied, 415 U.S. 977, 94 S. Ct. 1564, 39 L. Ed. 2d 873 (1974).