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What to Know About the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA)

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Eligibility for Service Members is Becoming More and More Important to Employers

In this day and age there are many employees who are involved with uniformed services. You may not be aware of all the rules and regulations that apply to both your organization and your eligible employees. This is a general overlook of the rules and regulations for the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA).

What is the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act?

USERRA protects civilian job rights and benefits for veterans and members of Reserve components. USERRA also makes major improvements in protecting service member rights and benefits by clarifying the law, and improving enforcement mechanisms.

USERRA also provides protection for disabled veterans, requiring employers to make reasonable efforts to accommodate the disability. Service members recovering from injuries received during service or training may have up to two years from the date of completion of service to return to their jobs or apply for reemployment.

Length of Time Allowed for Absence

USERRA establishes the cumulative length of time an individual may be absent from work for military duty and retain reemployment rights to five years (FYI - the previous law provided four years of active duty, plus an additional year if it was for the convenience of the Government). USERRA clearly establishes that reemployment protection does not depend on the timing, frequency, duration, or nature of an individual's service as long as the basic eligibility criteria are met.

Requirements of Service Members

USERRA requires service members provide advance written or verbal notice to their employers for all military duty unless giving notice is impossible, unreasonable, or precluded by military necessity. An employee should provide notice as far in advance as is reasonable under the circumstances. Additionally, service members are able (but are not required) to use accrued vacation or annual leave while performing military duty.

The Final Ruling

Each employer shall provide a notice to persons entitled to the rights, benefits and obligations under USERRA outlining employee and employer responsibilities.

Employers may provide the notice by posting it where employee notices are customarily placed. However, employers are free to provide the notice to employees in other ways that will minimize costs while ensuring the full text of the notice is provided (e.g., by handing or mailing out the notice, or distributing the notice via electronic mail).

For the poster to distribute or post for your employee visit the department of labors site.

Free Poster

Uniforned Services Include

  • Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, or Coast Guard
  • Army Reserve, Naval Reserve, Marine Corps Reserve, Air Force Reserve, or Coast Guard Reserve
  • Army National or Air National Guard
  • Commissioned Corps of the Public Health Service
  • Any other category of persons designed by the President in time of war or emergency

Reemployment Service

Reemployment rights extend to persons who have been absent from a position of employment because of "service in the uniformed services" (the performance of duty on a voluntary or involuntary basis in a uniformed service), which include:
  • Active duty/Active duty for training
  • Initial active duty for training (and Inactive)
  • Full-time National Guard duty
  • Absence from work for an examination to determine a person's fitness for any above duty
  • Funeral honors duty performed by National Guard or reserve members
  • Duty preformed by intermittent employees of the National Disaster System, part of Homeland Security- Emergency Preparedness and Response Directorate

Exceptions

There are eight categories exempt from the five-year limitation.
  1. Service is required beyond five years to complete obligation
  2. Service from which a person, through no fault of theirs, is unable to obtain a release
  3. Those involved in two-week annual training sessions and monthly weekend drills mandated, reservists and National Guard members
  4. Service under an order to remain on active duty because of war or national emergency declared by the President or Congress
  5. When active duty by volunteers and select reservists have been ordered to active duty without consent
  6. When put in duty in support of critical missions or requirements in times other than national emergency or war
  7. When federal service is needed of the National Guard and called to action by the President
  8. When federal service by member of the National Guard is called to action by the President to suppress an insurrection, repel an invasion, or execute laws of the United States

Stay Up-to-Date With USERRA at HRSentry.com

Many laws and regulations change periodically. HRSentry can help you stay current with these changes by emailing you notification when a laws are updated.

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