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VETS News Release: [10/20/2004]
Contact Name: Mike Biddle
Phone Number: 202-693-5051

Secretary Elaine L. Chao Reminds Employers of Responsibility To Rehire Returning Military Reservists and National Guard Troops

WASHINGTON—Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao today issued a Public Service Announcement (PSA) reminding the nation's employers of their legal responsibility to Reserve and National Guard service members leaving active duty and applying for their jobs back. The PSAs in English and Spanish will air on television stations throughout the country leading up to Veterans Day.

While serving their country on active duty, military reservists and guardsmen should have full confidence that their employer-provided pension and health benefits will continue for them and their families, said U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao. We will continue to keep Guard and Reserve service members, their families and employers, informed about the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act, the federal law that protects their jobs and benefits.

The PSA, They Did Their Job—Now Let's Do Ours, features Chao speaking to the nation's employers about the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) and their responsibilities to service members returning from active duty.

Detailed information for employers about the USERRA law can be found by calling 1-866-4-USA-DOL or by going to www.dol.gov/vets/programs/userra. The PSAs can be viewed online at that same URL.

In addition, the Department of Labor will ship a broadcast-quality PSA tape to any television station that e-mails a request to biddle.michael@dol.gov.

This is the second PSA disseminated and the latest in a series of compliance-assistance efforts undertaken by the Department of Labor to increase employer awareness of USERRA, including:

• Providing briefings and technical assistance to more than 186,000 service members and others on USERRA;
• Entering into a Memorandum of Understanding with the Department of Justice to better enforce the law, and
• Publishing proposed USERRA regulations, which explain the law in plain English.

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