Yesterday and today, we celebrate Veterans Day to honor those who have served our country in the armed forces.
Are you, as an employer, aware of your obligations to protect the jobs and benefits of your own employees who serve in the military or your employees who have family members who serve?
The Uniformed Services Employment Rights and Re-employment Rights Act (USERRA) affects all employers with employees who serve in the armed forces. The law provides job protection to employees in the regular armed forces and National Guard if called up to active duty.
Similarly, the Family and Medical Leave Act (FLMA) provides job protected leave for your employees who are family members of those in the military and who:
- serve as caregivers to those who have served and were injured or became ill through that service (up to 26 weeks leave); or
- experience a “qualified exigency” due to the impending or current service of their family member serving in the military (up to 12 weeks leave.) A qualified exigency occurs when families need to help manage the affairs of the service member who is called up or serving on active duty; examples include managing financial affairs or assisting with childcare issues.
HRSentry provides subscribers with a USERRA Kit containing all the resources you need, including USERRA-related provisions within the FMLA, to help our service men and women and their families when preparing for an absence from work and to help you ensure compliance with the law. To access this and other HRSentry kits, subscribers may simply click on HR Topic Modules under the Knowledge Menu. These and other useful HR-related resources are always available at your fingertips 24/7!
