Military Leave / USERRA

Arbitration agreement may be used for USERRA claims

09/05/2008

While USERRA may be comprehensive and quite broad, there is at least one area that courts seem willing to concede can be changed. The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals has recently ruled that employees and employers who agree to arbitrate disputes can include USERRA claims in that arbitration agreement …

Military Family Leave: New employee rights under the FMLA

09/02/2008

On Jan. 28, 2008, President Bush signed into law H.R. 4986, the National Defense Authorization Act, which grants new leave rights to employees with family members in the military. Because the NDAA amended the FMLA—not USERRA—the changes apply only to employers with 50 or more employees …

Justice Department Settles First USERRA Class Action Suit

08/26/2008

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has reached a settlement with the airline in a class-action suit brought by pilots who alleged that the company’s benefits-accrual practices violated USERRA. The settlement should be a wake-up call to employers: Now’s the time to make sure your benefits policies don’t discriminiate against military reservists and members of the National Guard.

HEART Act Adds Retirement, Pay Benefits for Reservist Employees

07/22/2008

The HEART Act is a new federal law that expands the retirement and pay benefits to which employees called to active military service are entitled. If you administer your organization’s retirement plan or work with payroll, you need to know about the law’s provisions. Our primer will get you started.

Beware new trend: Courts increasingly cut slack for vets

06/11/2008

More and more former service members are using the benefits Congress provided when it passed USERRA. In a recent decision, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals excused a former service member from even the most minimal of requirements before filing suit. That case is clearly part of a trend, one that may lead to more litigation for organizations that employ veterans …

Wal-Mart to pay $12,000 to veteran it didn’t hire back

06/09/2008

When Sean Thornton, of Deltona, was discharged from the U.S. Air Force in 2006, he asked Wal-Mart if he could return to his former job as a cashier. The retail chain refused, and Thornton sued, alleging violations of the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act …

Harassing Our Vets at Work: Unpatriotic for Sure, But Is It Illegal?

06/03/2008

A federal court has ruled that employees who believe their employers harass them because of their military status may file complaints under USERRA. The harassment angle breaks new legal ground. As more veterans return home from active duty, will it open the litigation floodgates?

Stay out of court by giving copies of arbitration agreements to employees

05/06/2008

If you aren’t careful, arbitration agreements can leave your company paying more, not less. That can happen when employees file a federal lawsuit regardless of an agreement requiring arbitration. Then the court has to decide whether the arbitration agreement is valid …

Service members’ jobs protected—If actually employed

05/01/2008

The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) protects members of the armed forces by allowing them to return to their jobs when their service ends. But USERRA has limits, applying only to service members who actually were employees when they went to serve …

Returning soldiers entitled to equivalent jobs, but not necessarily their old ones