In the United States, there are various laws enacted to enhance the rights and welfare of employees. The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) is one of the laws enacted by Congress specifically to protect civilians' jobs called to active military duty. According to the Department of Labor (DOL), USERRA aims to protect American citizens' employment rights in active or military reserve duties. With this in mind, USERRA seeks to eliminate any instances of employment discrimination individuals face due to military service. Based on this law, employers and business entities are usually required to make reasonable adjustments to accommodate veterans returning from active duty regardless of their disability. Essentially, USERRA prescribes various rights and responsibilities for employers, including the National Guard and Reserve and the armed forces (USERRA Act, 1994). In practice, USERRA affects the employment, retention, and reemployment of American citizens who have served in the military. Some of the rights provided for in this law include the reinstatement of health insurance, reinstatement, seniority accumulation, and accommodation for individuals with disabilities at the workplace.
History of USERRA
Although the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights act was enacted on October 13, 1994, it has a historical grounding that dates back to the Second World War and even the civil war eras. However, the Veterans' Reemployment Rights Act (VRRA) of 1968 is the most recent Act that bears semblance to USERRA. Essentially, the VRRA Act of 1968 aimed to protect citizens engaged in military reserve duties from discriminatory redeployment. It is noteworthy that the VRRA Act of 1968 provided a framework for the USERRA of 1994, which expanded the regulatory provisions of the VRRA Act of 1968 ( USERRA Act, 1994). Whereas the VRRA Act of 1968 was enacted to protect the redeployment rights of military reserve officers, the USERRA of 1994 broadened the scope to cover individuals in all the uniformed services such as the Coast guard, National Guard, the army, the Navy, and Marine Corps.
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Eligibility for Coverage under USERRA
The USERRA of 1994 stipulates coverage for military personnel for five years. With this in mind, any American employee called to active duty that runs for five years or less is eligible for rehire. However, USERRA provides deadline exceptions that include extensions for active duty calls, the extension of tours, and training duty that extend USERRA timelines ( USERRA Act, 1994). Essentially, statutory provisions under USERRA stipulate that the reemployment protections offered by the Act are not time-bound or affected by the frequency of military service.
Employer Responsibilities
Under the USERRA of 1994, all employers must adhere and comply with the provisions of this Act. The employers covered in this Act include the federal and state governments, foreign companies, and American employers operating in foreign countries (USERRA Act, 1994). According to the USERRA provisions, all employers are required to ensure that all employees eligible under the Act are reemployed in capacities similar to those they held before being called to military duty. Moreover, USERRA requires employers to take appropriate steps, including the retraining of veterans returning from active duty to ease their process of adapting to the workplace environment. Additionally, the USERRA of 1994 also has stringent recordkeeping requirements and stipulates employers' responsibilities to post the Department of Labor's official USERRA notification in an area noticeable to employees. However, employers whose activities are deemed to be brief, for non-recurrent periods, or those with no reasonable expectation of continued practice are exempted from USEERA provisions (USERRA Act, 1994).
USERRA Employee Responsibilities
Concerning employees, the USERRA of 1994 has five categories (time limit) of veterans applying for reemployment. Firstly, veterans who serve for less than thirty-one days are required to apply for reemployment as soon as possible (at the start of the first scheduled work period after their return) ( USERRA Act, 1994). The second category covers veterans whose call to duty lasts for 31 to 180 days. Essentially, the USERRA of 1994 requires veterans falling in this category to apply for reemployment for a period that does not exceed 14 days after completing their military service. The third category covers veterans whose duty covered a period exceeding 181 days ( USERRA Act, 1994). This category of veterans must apply for reemployment before the expiry of ninety days after their military service. Veterans who suffer illness or injury during active duty must reapply for reemployment within two years of their return from active military duty. However, it is noteworthy that a veteran's reemployment eligibility under USERRA is voided in instances involving dishonorable discharge from active duty. Essentially, the rights to reemployment under this Act are terminated when an individual is dishonorably discharged or discharged due to bad conduct, separated from active service for other reasons other than honorable ad an individual's dismissal by a court-martial ( USERRA Act, 1994). The rights to deployment under USERRA are also forfeited when an individual is dropped from the roles due to absenteeism without approval for a period exceeding three months. The rights can also be forfeited when a civilian court imprisons an employee. Under the USERRA act of 1994, reemployment applications can be submitted orally or in written form to individuals responsible for receiving employment applications.
Other Benefits that Accrue from the USERRA Act
Besides safeguarding reemployment rights for veterans, the USERRA Act of 1994 also provides other benefits to veterans. One of the benefits, in this case, concerns the apportionment of seniority rights. Under this Act, veterans reemployed are entitled to seniority and the benefits and privileges associated with their seniority before their military service or the seniority and its related benefits they would have attained if they were continuously engaged with their employment endeavors ( USERRA Act, 1994). Another benefit apportioned to reemployed veterans concerns Non-Seniority Rights. Essentially, the USERRA At of 1994 stipulates that reemployed veterans must be accorded rights and benefits that are not based on seniority but are available to employees on normal leave. It is noteworthy that the USERRA Act, in this case, covers benefits that were made available by the employer during a veteran's period of service ( USERRA Act, 1994).
The USERRA Act of 1994 also has provisions for the forfeiture of rights. Essentially, suppose an employee forfeits his employment rights through writing before leaving for military duties. In that case, such an individual loses all rights or benefits that he or she would have accrued, including the benefits not associated with seniority. It is noteworthy that while providing a letter of forfeiture, such an employee should be aware of the benefits and rights they stand to lose. With this in mind, in instances where an employee demonstrates a lack of awareness concerning the forfeiture of these rights or is coerced to forfeit such rights, the waiver becomes ineffective. However, the forfeiture of rights, in this case, will only affect benefits associated with benefits not based on seniority ( USERRA Act, 1994). Essentially, the rights protected under the Act and especially the rights to be reemployed are not affected by such forfeitures.
Comparison between the USERRA Act and Nevada Statutory Provisions
It is noteworthy that the USERRA Act of 1994 is a federal act covering veterans in all states and territories of the United States. However, there are state-specific statutes enacted in line with the USERRA Act. In practice, this Federal Act serves as a safeguard to preempt any state laws that may be less protective concerning veterans' employment and reemployment. With this in mind, if the statutes at the state level do not incorporate the rights to reemployment of veterans, the provisions of the USERRA Act of 1994 take precedence fully. On the other hand, scenarios in which state-specific statutes offer more stringent protections for Veterans than the USERRA Act of 1994 call for adopting state provisions ( Woodard, 2008) .
Several states, including Nevada, have state-specific statutes that protect the reemployment rights of veterans. As stated earlier, the USERRA Act of 1994 offers protection for all individuals engaged in all forms of military service. On the other hand, Nevada laws prohibit American citizens' discrimination based on their membership in the National Guard. Similar to the USERRA Act, the reemployment protections offered under Nevada statutes cover employees working in both the public and private sectors regardless of size. However, in providing this protection, Nevada statutes go a step further and classify employment discrimination against the National Guard members as a misdemeanor ( Martin et al., 2016) .
Moreover, Nevada Statutes also has a separate provision prohibiting employee termination based on assembly for training, participation in training, active duty or under employees ordered to active service for the National Guard, and classifying such terminations as an offense. Another difference that emerges between the USERRA Act of 1994 and Nevada statutes concerns the number of days required by veterans returning from active services to reapply or their reemployment. As stated earlier, if a veteran meets the eligibility requirements, the USERRA Act stipulates that such employees have to reapply for reemployment within and no later than 14 days after the end of the active military service. However, under Nevada statutes and specifically NRS 284.359, such veterans are provided with a grace period of 90 days after military service before applying for reemployment. From the forenamed, it is evident that the Nevada statutes offer more protection than the USERRA Act, and in such a case, it is prudent to follow its provisions.
Impact of the USERRA Act of 1994 on the Workplace
The USERRA Act of 1994 and state-specific laws that protect veterans' reemployment have an overriding impact on the workplace. The impact of the USERRA Act of 1994 on the workplace is three-fold. Firstly, this law fosters a workplace free of discrimination. In practice, this Act relegates instances in which employees may be discriminated against based on their current, past, or future engagements with the military. The prohibition in this Act essentially affects employment areas such as hiring, reemployment, termination, promotion, and benefits ( USERRA Act, 1994).
Another dimension at the workplace affected by the USERRA Act of 1994 concerns the working environment. In practice, this Act enables a working environment free from any hostility against Veterans or employees willing to take up military duties. Essentially, USERRA Act provides coverage against claims of hostile work environments and any form of harassment that may be meted against employees based on their veteran status or as a result of their impending or active engagement with the military ( USERRA Act, 1994).
The third dimension through which the USERRA Act of 1994 affects the workplace concerns retaliation. Under the USERRA Act, all employers or business entities are prohibited from retaliating against any employee who files a complaint under the law, assists in investigations, or takes part in any other legal proceedings. The law also protects employees who testify in courts or exercise their rights or any other rights as provided under the law. It is noteworthy that the protections offered by the USERRA Act of 1994 in this regard cover any employee regardless of whether such employees have performed or being engaged in military service or not (Bodensteiner, 2011). It is also noteworthy that the USERRA Act also affects workplaces considering the accommodations that have to be initiated to enable veterans with disabilities emanating from their military service to adapt to the work environment. In totality, the USERRA Act of 1994 fosters a work environment in which veterans or individuals seeking to engage in military service are appreciated for their sacrifice to the nation while at the same time providing avenues that ensure their overall wellbeing after the completion of their service or active duty.
Conclusion
The USERRA Act of 1994 (USERRA) is a federal law prescribing various rights and responsibilities to employers and employers to safeguard the employment and reemployment rights of American citizens engaged in military service. It is noteworthy that the USERRA Act covers members of the American armed forces, including the National Guard and Reserve, and prescribes various rights concerning employment, reemployment, and retention. Essentially, the USERRA Act apportions veterans the rights to job reinstatement, seniority accumulation, and job retraining. Moreover, this Act also offers protection concerning health insurance coverage and the accommodation of veterans with disabilities due to their engagement in military service. Nevertheless, the USERRA Act of 1994 stipulates an eligibility criterion that should be adhered to in protecting veterans' employment and reemployment rights in addition to the timelines required for veterans to reapply for their reinstatement. Additionally, this Act spells out the employers' and employees' responsibilities in line with its provisions. It is noteworthy that there are state-specific statutes to offer protections similar to the USERRA Act of 1994. However, state-specific provisions are required to meet the bare minimums of the USERRA Act of 1994; otherwise, they are preempted by this Federal Act. In totality, the USERRA Act of 1994 affects the workplace through negated discrimination, retaliation, and provision of a work environment free from hostility.
References
Bodensteiner, I. E. (2011). The Risk of Complaining-Retaliation. JC & UL , 38 , 1.
Martin, W., Jonathan, I. I., Kitchen, F. D., Wheeler, G. R., & Upson, P. A. (2016). Labor and employment law. Mercer Law Review , 68 , 1061.
USERRA Act. (1994). United States of America, Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA), Pub. Law No. 103-353, October 13, 1994
Woodard, K. (2008). Enforcement of the uniformed services employment and reemployment rights Act by the Department of Justice. United States Attorneys' Bulletin, 56 , 9.
