Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act

General
The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA), prohibits
discrimination against persons because of their service in the Armed Forces Reserve,
the National Guard, or other uniformed services. USERRA prohibits an employer from
denying any benefit of employment on the basis of an individuals membership,
application for membership, performance of service, application for service, or
obligation for service in the uniformed services. USERRA also protects the right of
veterans, reservists, National Guard members, and certain other members of the uniformed
services to reclaim their civilian employment after being absent due to military service
or training.
Ref:
38
U.S.C. § 4301, et. seq.
Important Update
The U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC) began directly receiving and investigating
certain federal sector USERRA claims on February 8, 2005.
Pursuant to a demonstration project established by the Veterans Benefits
Improvement Act of 2004 (VBIA), P.L. 108-454, signed by President Bush on
December 10, 2004, OSC, rather than the Department of Labor’s Veterans Employment
and Training Service (VETS), will have authority to investigate federal sector
USERRA claims brought by persons whose social security number ends in an
odd-numbered digit. Under the project, OSC will also receive and investigate all
federal sector USERRA claims containing a related prohibited personnel practice
allegation over which OSC has jurisdiction regardless of the person’s social
security number.
OSC administers the demonstration project, which was intended to run from February 8,
2005 until September 30, 2007. Congress has extended the demonstration project until
December
31, 2007.
Filing a USERRA Complaint with OSC
If you are a federal employee or applicant for federal employment and believe
that a federal agency has violated your USERRA rights, you may file a USERRA
claim with OSC if:
-
Your social security number ends in an odd numbered digit (i.e., ends in 1, 3,
5, 7, or 9) or
- Regardless of your social security number, if you also allege that the
involved federal agency has engaged in a prohibited personnel practice. (Click
on “Prohibited Personnel Practices” heading for more information on what
constitutes a prohibited personnel practice.)
If you are not alleging a prohibited personnel practice and your social security
number ends in an even numbered digit (i.e., 0, 2, 4, 6, 8), OSC is not
authorized to receive directly your USERRA complaint. Instead, you should first
file your complaint with VETS. If VETS is unsuccessful in resolving the
complaint, you may request that VETS refer the complaint to OSC. If the Special
Counsel believes there is merit to the complaint, OSC will initiate an action
before the Merit Systems Protection Board and appear on your behalf. The
successful claimant is entitled to receive the employment benefits that he/she
was denied as the result of the agency's violation of USERRA. Additionally, a
prevailing claimant is entitled to attorney's fees, expert witness fees, and
other litigation expenses.
Please use Form OSC-14 to submit a USERRA complaint to OSC. Electronic
filing of a USERRA complaint is not currently available.
Informational USERRA Poster
Should you require information about the informational USERRA poster you may be required to post at the workplace, please visit
http://www.dol.gov/vets.
OSC Contact
If you have any questions about OSC's role in enforcing USERRA, please
contact USERRA Unit, by telephone at (202)
254-3620, or by e-mail at
userra@osc.gov.
Other Useful Web Sites
The Department of Labor's Veterans' Employment
and Training Service maintains a home page at http://www.dol.gov/vets. The VETS home page contains an
interactive guided program that provides valuable information and answers questions
about USERRA.
