MILITARY SERVICE and USERRA
The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) prohibits discrimination against employees based on military status and service. Any such discrimination impacting hiring, benefits, promotions and job status is illegal. The USERRA covers all branches of the military, including reserves.
The USERRA also provides that military personnel must be re-employed and placed back their old job position upon return from service if the following five conditions are met:
The returning service member was in a civilian job;
The returning service member gave notice that he or she was leaving the job in order to perform uniformed service, unless notice was impractical under the circumstances;
The period of service did not exceed five years;
The returning service member did not receive a dishonorable or other form of punitive discharge from the service; and
The returning service member reported back to work in a timely fashion after being discharged or submitted a timely application for reemployment.
When returning to work from military service of between 30 and 180 days, a service member cannot be fired by their civilian employer without cause for a period of six months. For returning service members who served for more than 180 days, the service member cannot be fired for a full year after reemployment except for cause.
Lastly, the USERRA provides that a service member returning to a job after a military leave is entitled to the same level of seniority and job status that he or she would have obtained with no gap in employment for military leave. Stated more simply, your seniority still accrues even while you are serving.
Some examples of illegal conduct under USERRA include:
My employer refused to return me to my job position after I completed my military service.
I was disciplined or fired shortly after informing my work about my military service or shortly after returning from military service.
I was demoted related to my military service.
I was disciplined or fired shortly after complaining about discrimination due to my military service.
My job refused to keep me enrolled for health care benefits during my military service.
I was forced to use my PTO or vacation time to cover my reserve training.
I was not promoted based on seniority while I was away for military service.
I was not promoted because I was away too much for reserve service.
My employer would not agree to an accommodation for my service related injury or disability