In 1994, legislation called The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Act was enacted to strengthen and expand the reemployment rights of uniformed service members. The legislation consitituted a major overhaul of a prior statute, which it replaced, and codified the nearly 50 years of case law surrounding the earlier statute. This law was further amended in 2005.
Here are some questions (with answers) employers frequently ask regarding military service personnel rights.
Q. Can an employer request that accrued vacation time be used for military service? A. No. The law does not permit an employer to require that an employee use vacation time for military service.
Q. What about health benefits for military service members? A. The new law provides for COBRA equivalent health benefit continuation for those who are away for military service. This is true, even if the employer would not otherwise be covered by COBRA - that is, an employer with less than 20 employees. The military service member may elect to continue the health plan coverage for up to 18 months after the absence begins or for the period of service, whichever period is shorter.
Q. Who is covered by the law's anti-discrimination provision? A. The law's anti-discrimination coverage (e.g. hiring, promotion, reemployment, termination, and benefits) applies to past service members, current members, and persons who apply to be a member of any of the branches of the uniformed services.
Q. Who enforces the law? A. The Department of Labor's Veterans' Employment and Training Service (VETS) investigates complaints and attempts to resolve them. Cases that remain unresolved can be referred to the Attorney General for court action, and individuals have the right to file suit.
Q. Does the law recognize any conditions which would lessen an individual's right to reemployment? A. Yes. The law will excuse reemployment where the circumstances have changed so much that reemployment of the service member would be impossible or unreasonable (e.g. a reduction in force that would have included the person seeking reemployment). Employers also are excused from makeing efforts to qualify returning service members or from accommodating individuals with service-connected disabilites when doing so would be of such difficulty or expense as to cause "undue harship" as that term is defined in the American with Disabilities Act.
To learn more about what employers need to consider regarding military service personnel rights, you should obtain a copy of an excellent employers guide to federal labor and employment laws that is featured on this blog.
The continuation coverage requirements of USERRA require that coverage be offered for 24 months, not 18
Posted by: Mark | November 11, 2008 at 05:27 PM
Can an employer withhold holiday pay from an Army Reservist who served their weekend duty on a holiday weekend & thus didn't fulfill the company obligation to work the day before & day after a holiday to get such pay even though the employee worked on the actual holiday?
Posted by: M.A.Shrider | September 05, 2009 at 09:27 AM