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Employers urged: Support NMI’s deployed members
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Posted on Aug 08 2008
Employers must show their support for deployed members of the National Guard and Reserve by pledging to the men and women that their jobs will be waiting for them when they complete their service, an official from the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve said Friday during a luncheon.
Don Clark, Employee Outreach Director, informed a room of about 70 local employers about the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act, or USERRA.
The Act prohibits discrimination against those who serve or have served voluntarily or involuntarily.
“We can all imagine what it’s like to be deployed and come back and be told you no longer have that position,” he said. “It’s essentially an anti-discrimination law.”
The Act applies to federal, state and local governments, and private employers regardless of size.
There are six criteria that must be met by the employee:
1. Must be an employee, but it does not need to be a permanent or regular job
2. Must give prior notice
3. Must be leaving for military service
4. Service must not exceed five years (exemptions: reserve training, involuntary call-up, volunteer for critical mission, initial active service obligation, war)
5. Must be honorably discharged
6. Must return within legally prescribed time
During the luncheon, 33 representatives from various agencies and businesses were recognized for their commitment to men and women of the National Guard and Reserve.
Some of the agencies and businesses represented were:
-Commonwealth Ports Authority
-Commonwealth Utilities Corp.
-Department of Public Safety
-Department of Public Safety-fire division
-Department of Public Safety-police division
-Joeten Motors
-Public Schools System
-Oleai Elementary
