Purpose of USERRA

The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act, or USERRA, is codified at Title 38, United States Code, sections 4301-4333.  Enacted in 1994, USERRA traces its roots back to 1940.  At that time, the Congress, preparing to institute the Nation's first peacetime draft, determined it would be proper to provide for the reemployment of persons called from their jobs to serve in the Armed Forces.  Accordingly, a statute that came to be known as the Veterans' Reemployment Rights law was enacted.  USERRA represents a major revision of that law.

The purposes of USERRA are specified in section 4301.  The law is intended "to encourage non-career military service by eliminating or minimizing disadvantages to civilian careers and employment which can result from such service; to minimize the disruption to the lives of persons performing military service as well as to their employers, their fellow employees, and their communities, by providing for the prompt reemployment of such persons upon their completion of service; and to prohibit discrimination against persons because of their military service."

USERRA applies to all U.S. employers, regardless of size.  It applies to the Federal Government, State and local governments, and private employers, both here and overseas.

The uniformed services include the Active and Reserve components of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and Coast Guard.  It includes the Army and Air National Guard when performing Federal service.  The Commissioned Corps of the Public Health Service is also considered a uniformed service for purposes of USERRA.  Finally, there is a provision for the President to designate others who serve the Nation during a time of emergency as being in the "uniformed services" for USERRA purposes.

The Secretary of Labor administers and interprets USERRA.  The Secretary of Labor also provides assistance to protected persons and investigates complaints brought under the statute.  The Secretary has delegated these USERRA duties to the Veterans' Employment and Training Service, an agency within the Department of Labor.

Section 4321 provides that the Secretary of Labor (through VETS) will provide assistance to any person concerning his or her USERRA rights.  In providing such assistance, the Secretary may request the assistance of other Federal or State agencies and utilize the assistance of volunteers.  The primary partner of VETS in providing USERRA assistance for members of the National Guard and Reserve is the National Committee for Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR). 

Section 4333 requires the Secretaries of Labor, Defense, and Veterans Affairs to perform outreach activities to inform protected persons, employers and the public about USERRA.  VETS and ESGR often work as a team in performing outreach activities, both in their Washington, D.C., headquarters offices and at the local level. 

Many educational USERRA outreach materials from VETS and ESGR are available on their respective Web sites.  For example, VETS home page has links to a Non-Technical Guide  to USERRA, an interactive USERRA E-Laws Advisor and a copy of the law itself.  The ESGR home page has informative and easy-to-read fact sheets.