The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) is a key piece of employment legislature that Congress passed to protect the jobs of civilians called to active military duty.
What is the History of USERRA?
The legislative concept of USERRA has a history that dates back from World War Two and even the Civil War. The most recent change was the the Veterans’ Reemployment Rights Act (VRRA) of 1968, which protected reserve military members from reemployment discrimination. USERRA was passed in 1994 and expanded the protections of the VRRA. It applies to all the uniformed services: the Army, Navy, …show more content…
USERRA guarantees reemployment for military members for five years. This means that an employee who is called to active duty for under five years must be rehired. However, there are time length exceptions. For instance, active duty recalls, reserve training duty and tour extensions all extend the USERRA time frame. In fact, the USERRA legistlation clearly states that the reemployment protection is not limited to time, duration or frequency of service. What are the Employer Responsibilities?
All employers in the United States must maintain compliance with USERRA. This includes government employees, members of foreign companies and even American employers in foreign countries. All eligible military members must be reemployed in the same or similar job as when they originally left. Employers must make reasonable efforts, such as retraining, in order to help the returning veteran adapt to their new position. Simply put, the USERRA is similar to FEMLA or workers’ compensation legislation because it doesn’t guarantee the same job, but it guarantees a job with similar pay, status, rights and benefits. In addition to this, there are strict recordkeeping requirements. Employers must post the Department of Labor’s official USERRA notification in an area noticeable to employees, which is generally the lunch