Mar 11, 2005 General Employment Issues

United States Department of Labor Releases New Mandatory Poster Concerning Reinstatement of Military Service Members

On March 10, 2005, the Veterans Employment and Training Service (VETS), a division of the United States Department of Labor, released a new poster that must be displayed conspicuously in the workplace by every U.S. employer to inform employees of their rights under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA). The poster, which must be displayed immediately, is available to download and print on DOL’s website at http://www.dol.gov/vets/programs/userra/poster.pdf.

USERRA generally requires employers to rehire military service members returning from a period of service if the service member meets each of the following criteria:

a) The service member held a civilian job prior to service;

b) The service member gave notice to the employer that he or she was leaving the job for service in one of the uniformed services;

c) The service member’s cumulative period of uniformed service did not exceed five (5) years;

d) The service member was not released from service due to a dishonorable discharge or other punitive condition;

e) The service member reported back to his or her civilian job in a “timely manner” or submitted a reasonable timeline for reemployment.

USERRA applies to all U.S. employers, regardless of size, and to nearly all employees, including part-time and probationary employees. The statute defines a “period of uniformed service” as any active duty, active duty training, inactive duty training or funeral honors duty performed by a member of any of the armed services (Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Air National Guard or Public Health Commissioned Corps), reserves or national guard.