Legal Question in Military Law in California
How long does Army National Guard have to pay an enlistment bonus? My son is now an 11b deployed OCONUS with the Lousiana National guard stationed In Iraq. He enlsited with the California National guard and was promised a $20,000 sign on bonus. as yet, he has not recieved any payments, dispite following chain of command.
2 Answers from Attorneys
It depends on the terms of the enlistment contact.
I should tell you that I've found that most servicemmebers are never paid the full amount of their bonus, either because the military finds loopholes to avoid paying or more often because they simply refuse to honor the contact.
Best advice I can give your son is to get a copy of his enlistment contract (including the part that talks about the bonus). If the military is in breach, then he can take it up with IG (inspector General), he can file an article 138 against his command, or he could seek help from a congressional office. All of those steps are confrontational ones but i may be necessary if he wants to avoid being screwed out of the money he earned.
Good luck. I hope and pray your son makes it back home safely.
Thank you for your son's service. If the enlistment contract does not specify when, then probably allow a "reasonable" amount of time per contract law. If it has already been that, please contact me to discuss how I may help. If this has happened to other service members and you want to help them as well, please contact me to discuss bringing a representative action in which we might help everyone get what they are owed. I handle government law matters, litigate against municipalities, and this should be fairly straight forward. I am happy to help.
Best,
Daniel Bakondi, Esq.
415-450-0424
The Law Office of Daniel Bakondi, APLC
870 Market Street, Suite 1161
San Francisco CA 94102
http://www.danielbakondi.com
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