Basic Protection - Military Careers, Air Force Commissioning Programs - Air Force Times

Basic Protection

The Uniformed Services Employment and Re-employment Rights Act applies to all employers, regardless of size, including U.S.-owned or U.S.-controlled companies overseas.

Reservists are protected under the law as follows:

• Employers may not deny employment, re-employment, retention in employment, promotion or any other benefit of employment because of past or present membership in the armed forces or intent to join the military. This applies to active and reserve service, whether voluntary or involuntary. Employers must grant time off for military duty. Upon completion of military service, reservists must be given their civilian jobs back, provided that they meet the basic eligibility criteria of the re-employment rights law. Upon re-employment, reservists generally are entitled to the seniority status and pay rate they would have attained had they not been absent.

• Employers must make “reasonable efforts” to train or retrain returning employees and accommodate any disabilities incurred or aggravated during military service.