Overpaid Union Thug
Well-Known Member
The following is directly from USERRA. This is where I have the hangup and don't agree with some of you:
(1) Except as provided in paragraphs (3) and (4), in the case of a person whose
period of service in the uniformed services was for less than 91 days--
(A) in the position of employment in which the person would have been
employed if the continuous employment of such person with the employer
had not been interrupted by such service, the duties of which the person is
qualified to perform; or
(B) in the position of employment in which the person was employed on
the date of the commencement of the service in the uniformed services,
only if the person is not qualified to perform the duties of the position
referred to in subparagraph (A) after reasonable efforts by the employer to
qualify the person.
I bolded that verbage. If I am gone and they bid out a FT job I am qualified to have with my seniority and I do not get the job then isn't this in violation of that paragraph?
After I went on active duty I talked to JAG at my active duty base about this. Also talked to USERRA reps at two different reserve/guard bases. They all said the same exact thing. When you come back you are entitled to any job that was vacated/created that was filled by someone with less seniority than you. When I came back from active duty I was trained as a part-time cover driver immediately and was dovetailed into the seniority list ahead of a couple of people with less seniority that bid into the job while I was gone.
When I did my last annual tour (two weeks training) for the Reserves I ran into a UPS driver while on lunch break that was in the Army National Guard and had deployed. When he returned he found out that a full-time driver was hired while he was gone and he had more seniority than the person. When he tried to exercise his rights under USERRA to obtain a full-time job he was denied. He had to get a lawyer. Once the lawyer came knocking on UPS's door he given the job pretty quickly and received a rather nice apologetic letter from corporate.
Most guard and reserve bases have USERRA reps. Even some active duty bases have them. They even have USERRA briefings as part as in-processing as a new troop. They are very useful.