{"id":532,"date":"2014-01-17T15:24:04","date_gmt":"2014-01-17T21:24:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/facultyhandbook\/?page_id=532"},"modified":"2023-06-07T08:19:03","modified_gmt":"2023-06-07T13:19:03","slug":"userra","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/facultyhandbook\/userra\/","title":{"rendered":"The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA)"},"content":{"rendered":"<div data-modular-content-collection><p><i>[Faculty Handbook Category #1]<\/i><i><\/i><\/p>\n<p>USERRA protects the job rights of individuals who voluntarily or involuntary leave employment positions to undertake military service. USERRA also prohibits employers from discriminating against past and present members of the uniformed service, and applicants to the uniformed services.<\/p>\n<h5>Reemployment Rights<\/h5>\n<p>You have the right to be reemployed in your civilian job if you leave that job to perform service in the uniformed service and<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>you ensure that your employer receives advance written or verbal notice of your service;<\/li>\n<li>you have five years or less of cumulative service in the uniformed services while with that particular employer;<\/li>\n<li>you return to work or apply for reemployment in a timely manner after conclusion of service; and<\/li>\n<li>you have not been separated from service with a disqualifying discharge or under other than honorable conditions.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If you are eligible to be reemployed, you must be restored to the job and benefits you would have attained if you have not been absent due to military service or, in some cases, a comparable job.<\/p>\n<h5>Right to be Free from Discrimination and Retaliation<\/h5>\n<p>If you<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>are a past or present member of the uniformed service;<\/li>\n<li>have applied for membership in the uniformed service; or<\/li>\n<li>are obligated to serve in the uniformed service;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>then an employer\u00a0may\u00a0not deny you any of the following because of this status:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>initial employment<\/li>\n<li>reemployment<\/li>\n<li>retention in employment<\/li>\n<li>promotion or<\/li>\n<li>any benefit of employment<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>In addition, an employer\u00a0may\u00a0not retaliate against anyone assisting in the enforcement of USERRA rights, including testifying or making a statement in connection with a proceeding under USERRA, even if that person has no service connection.<\/p>\n<h5>Health Insurance Protection<\/h5>\n<p>If you leave your job to perform military service, you have the right to elect to continue your existing employer-based health plan coverage for you and your dependents for up to 24 months while in the military.<\/p>\n<p>Even if you don\u2019t elect to continue coverage during your military service, you have the right to be reinstated in your employer\u2019s health plan when you are reemployed, generally without any waiting periods or exclusions (e.g., pre-existing condition exclusion) except for service-connected illnesses or injuries.<\/p>\n<h5>Enforcement<\/h5>\n<p>The U.S. Department of Labor, Veterans Employment and Training Service (VETS) is authorized to investigate and resolve complaints of USERRA violations.<\/p>\n<p>For assistance in filing a complaint, or for any other information on USERRA, contact VETS at 1-866-4-USA-DOL or visit its website at\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.dol.gov\/agencies\/vets\">http:\/\/www.dol.gov\/agencies\/vets<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>If you file a complaint with VETS and VETS is unable to resolve it, you\u00a0may\u00a0request that your case be referred to the Department of Justice or the Office of Special Counsel,depending on the employer, for representation.\u00a0\u00a0You\u00a0may\u00a0also bypass the VETS process and bring a civil action against an employer for violations of USERRA.<\/p>\n<p><b>The rights listed here\u00a0<\/b><b>may<\/b><b>\u00a0vary depending on the circumstances. This<\/b><b>\u00a0notice was prepared by VETS, and\u00a0may\u00a0be viewed on the internet at this<\/b><b>\u00a0address:<\/b> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dol.gov\/sites\/dolgov\/files\/VETS\/legacy\/files\/USERRA_Private.pdf\"><b>http:\/\/www.dol.gov\/sites\/dolgov\/files\/vets\/legacy\/files\/userra_private.pdf<\/b><\/a><b>. Federal law<\/b><b>\u00a0requires employers to notify employees of their rights under USERRA, and<\/b><b>\u00a0employers\u00a0may\u00a0meet this requirement by displaying this notice where they<\/b><b>\u00a0customarily place notices for employees.<\/b><b>\u00a0USERRA protects the job rights of individuals who voluntarily or involuntarily leave employment positions to undertake military service.<\/b><b>\u00a0USERRA also prohibits employers from discriminating against past and present members of the uniformed services, and applicants to<\/b><b>\u00a0the uniformed services.<\/b><\/p>\n<p><!-- begin-migrated-from-panel-builder --><!-- end-migrated-from-panel-builder --><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[Faculty Handbook Category #1] USERRA protects the job rights of individuals who voluntarily or involuntary leave employment positions to undertake military service. USERRA also prohibits employers from discriminating against past [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":322,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-532","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/facultyhandbook\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/532","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/facultyhandbook\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/facultyhandbook\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/facultyhandbook\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/322"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/facultyhandbook\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=532"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/facultyhandbook\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/532\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1163,"href":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/facultyhandbook\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/532\/revisions\/1163"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/facultyhandbook\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=532"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}