labor lawAdivision of labor law center

Under the new regulations of the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act, or USERRA, the soldiers have the right to return to their civilian jobs when they come back from military service. Not only that, the employers must reemploy the veterans to the same job, and with the same remuneration and benefits. They must consider the time in the military as time in the company. In many circumstances, the workers are also entitled to annual remuneration increases and adjustments of their income to inflation. In some test cases, the veterans were eligible to promotions based in the years of seniority. The time of military service was included as time in the position.

The new rules, recently released by the Department of Labor, clarify the enforcement of USERRA. The regulations protect the members of the National Guard and the Reserve. Signed in 1994, USERRA covers the rights of veterans to return to their civilian jobs.

The Department of Labor requires that every company display Connecticut USERRA posters. The posters must contain updated and correct information.

One of the main rules of USERRA is that every soldier has a 5-year protection to their civilian jobs. The 5-year period is cumulative. An employee with 4 years in the service has another year of job protection. The periodic training time of National Guard or Reserve is not included to the 5 years. If an employee remains at military service for more than 5 years with no interruptions, she or he do not loose their rights and can solicit the reemployment when she or he come back from the military. The eligibility of the individual to the benefit is the most important criteria. Other criteria like timing, duration or frequency of the service are considered, but are secondary.

The Veterans’ Employment and Training Service (VETS) assists those who need help with claims under USERRA. VETS is a division of the Department of Labor.

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