U.S. Office of Special Counsel  1730 M Street, N.W., Suite 218  Washington, D.C. 20036-4505

U.S. OFFICE OF SPECIAL COUNSEL RECEIVES EXPANDED AUTHORITY UNDER USERRA; SPECIAL COUNSEL PLEDGES JOB PROTECTION FOR FEDERAL EMPLOYEES WHO SERVE IN MILITARY RESERVE, GUARD

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - 2/8/05
CONTACT: CATHY DEEDS, 202-254-3600 or CDeeds@OSC.GOV
             
      WASHINGTON -- On February 8, 2005, the U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC) will begin receiving and investigating certain federal sector claims arising under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA), the law that sets forth the reemployment rights of those who are absent from employment due to military service. USERRA also proscribes workplace discrimination on the basis of past, present, or future military obligations.

      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 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.

      VETS will continue to investigate “even numbered” claims that do not include a related prohibited personnel practice allegation. Nor does the VBIA change the manner in which non-federal sector USERRA claims (i.e., those involving state and local governments and private employers) are received and investigated by VETS.

     OSC is administering the demonstration project, which begins on February 8, 2005, and ends on September 30, 2007.

     Special Counsel Scott Bloch concurs with Congress’s sense that the federal government should be a model employer when carrying out its responsibilities under USERRA. According to Bloch, Congress “wisely decided” to establish the demonstration project, which endeavors to strengthen USERRA’s enforcement in the federal sector through OSC’s expertise in investigating and prosecuting prohibited personnel practices in the federal workplace. “OSC proudly embraces its expanded role in enforcing USERRA for the benefit of all those brave service members who have served, are serving, and may be called to military service,” said Bloch.

     When USERRA was passed in 1994, OSC’s role in protecting federal employees and applicants for federal employment expanded. Under USERRA, if VETS is unsuccessful in resolving a federal sector claim, the claimant may request that VETS refer the matter to OSC. If the Special Counsel believes there is merit to the claim, OSC will initiate a USERRA action before the MSPB and appear on behalf of the claimant. OSC will continue to perform this prosecutorial function under the demonstration project. The demonstration project, however, gives OSC investigative authority over so-called “odd-numbered” and “mixed” federal sector USERRA claims. The joining of investigative and prosecutorial functions within OSC is intended to yield an effective and timelier resolution of federal sector USERRA claims.
     

      The U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC) is an independent investigative and prosecutorial agency and operates as a secure channel for disclosures of whistleblower complaints and abuse of authority. Its primary mission is to safeguard the merit system in federal employment by protecting federal employees and applicants from prohibited personnel practices, especially retaliation for whistleblowing. OSC also has jurisdiction over the Hatch Act and the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act. For more information please visit our web site at www.osc.gov or call 1-800-872-9855.