An Overview of Uniformed Services Employment and Re-employment Rights Act

Have you ever wondered what will happen to your civilian job if your Reserve or Guard unit is called into Active Duty? When you return to the civilian world, will you have to search for a new job? What can you do to ensure you’ll be able to work again? The following is a summary of the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994.

Fortunately, the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA), enacted in October 1994 (and significantly updated in 1996 and 1998), provides reemployment protection and other benefits for veterans and employees who perform military service. Under USERRA, if a military member leaves his civilian job for service in the uniformed services, he is entitled to return to the job, with accrued seniority, provided he meet the law’s eligibility criteria. USERRA applies to voluntary as well as involuntary service, in peacetime as well as wartime, and the law applies to virtually all civilian employers, including the Federal Government, State and local governments, and private employers, regardless of size.

USERRA Eligibility

Reemployment rights extend to persons who have been absent from a position of employment because of “service in the uniformed services.” “Service in the uniformed services” means the performance of duty on a voluntary or involuntary basis in a uniformed service, including:

Active duty (Including Reserve and Guard members who have been called up)

Active duty for training

Initial active duty for training

Inactive duty training

Full-time National Guard duty

Absence from work for an examination to determine a person’s fitness for any of the above types of duty

Funeral honors duty performed by National Guard or reserve members

In order to have reemployment rights following a period of service in the uniformed services, a military member must meet five eligibility criteria (discussed separately below):

You must have held a civilian job

You must have informed your employer that you were leaving the job for service in the uniformed services

The period of service must not have exceeded five years. (Certain exceptions apply that may extend the 5 year period, contact the Dept. of Labor for assistance)

You must have been released from service under “honorable conditions”

You must have reported back to your civilian employer in a timely manner or have submitted a timely application for reemployment.