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CHCC signs support for ESGR
Commonwealth Healthcare Corp. executives and nurses show their statement of support forms that help service members keep their jobs while deployed. (Jayson Camacho)
Commonwealth Healthcare Corp. hospital administrator Jesse M. Tudela led head nurses and organization managers in signing a statement of support for the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve last Thursday, March 27.
Rose Igitol and Janice Tenorio of ESGR briefed the hospital staff of the organization’s important role in ensuring that employers, Guards members, and reservists understand their roles.
ESGR is a volunteer organization under the U.S Department of Defense that seeks to develop and promote a culture in which all American employers support and value the military service of their employees, with ESGR as the principal advocate within DoD.
“This statement of support publicly shows that you as employers support your employees who are under the armed services,” Igitol said.
Tudela said that more high school graduates enter the armed forces and it is possible that some members of their staff are also Guard members or reservists.
“One of you might have them under your unit and someday they will be deployed. They are protected, and we cannot release them,” he added.
Igitol said this protection is enforced by the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994.
USERRA is the federal law that establishes rights and responsibilities for members of the National Guard and Reserve and their civilian employers. It affects employment, reemployment, employment benefits and retention in employment, when employees serve or have served in the uniformed services.
Two service members are currently employed at the hospital. They are Dr. John Tudela and Ivan Igitol.
During the briefing of the statement of support, Igitol and Tenorio told the staff that an awards banquet by ESGR will be held in April this year. The awards banquet seeks to honor and award employers who support ESGR.
