Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR)
Army Reserve: Retired
Benefit Fact Sheet
Summary:
Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR) is a Department of Defense organization established to promote cooperation and understanding between Service members and their civilian employers and to assist in the resolution of conflicts arising from the employee's military commitment. The ESGR Ombudsman Services Program provides neutral counseling and mediation of issues relating to compliance with the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA).
Eligibility:
Retired Army Reserve Soldiers are not eligible to receive ESGR services. The ESGR program is designed to support active Reserve Component members in their civilian careers by protecting their employment rights as provided for by the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA).
USERRA creates the following exceptions to the five-year limit on service in the uniformed services:
- Service that is required beyond five years to complete an initial period of obligated service. Some military specialties require an individual to serve more than five years because of the amount of time or expense involved in training. If the employee works in one of those specialties, he or she has reemployment rights when the initial period of obligated service is completed.
- If the employee was unable to obtain orders releasing him or her from service in the uniformed services before the expiration of the five-year period, and the inability was not the employee's fault.
- Service performed to fulfill periodic Guard and Reserve training requirements and includes service performed to fulfill additional training requirements determined and certified by a proper military authority as necessary for the employee's professional development, or to complete skill training or retraining. This includes weekend drills and annual training.
- Service performed in a uniformed service if he or she was ordered to or retained on active duty under the following circumstances:
- Involuntary active duty of a military retiree;
- Involuntary active duty in wartime;
- Retention on active duty while in captive status;
- Involuntary active duty during a national emergency;
- Involuntary active duty for an operational mission, involuntary retention on active duty of a critical person during time of crisis or other specific conditions;
- Involuntary active duty by the Coast Guard Reserve for natural or man-made disasters;
Service performed in a uniformed service if the employee was ordered to or retained on active duty (other than for training) under any provision of law because of a war or national emergency declared by the President or the Congress, as determined by the Secretary concerned.
Additional Information:
For more information, please see the ESGR webpage maintained by the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve: http://www.esgr.mil
Document Review Date: 6 February 2013