For returning military veterans, heading back into the employment world as a civilian can be met with some challenging battles.
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November 9, 2009
Army national guardsman Ivan Rivera is used to short notice surprises -- report to base, sleep in gear, await orders to Iraq or Kuwait. The last assignment was to Japan to help with their missile defense. Usually when he returns home, life settles a bit and he resumes his job at the Green Depot -- but not this time.
"The new general manager had told me that because I had left under circumstances where I did not inform them that my position had been given to someone else," Rivera said.
Ivan says he was at first shocked, stunned and then saddened by the news.
"It's wrong to treat servicemen like this -- we're going out to do a job, we're coming back and all of a sudden we have no employment. What am I supposed to do?" Rivera said.
If you're in the military, the first thing you do is check your rights under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act.
USERRA is a federal law that establishes rights and responsibilities between the National Guard reserve and civilian employers.
One section states the employer must provide prompt reinstatement back into the existing job following military service.
But the employee must act responsibly giving his employer advance notice of his or her upcoming service.
Rivera said he verbally notified Green Depot management of his pending departure several days before and backed it up with an email.
"The general email was just basically listing basically I have my orders, I'm gonna deploy, and I don't have a set date yet but in the original email I said from the time you're getting this particular email it will be about roughly seven to eight days," Rivera said.
it was a general email stating i'll be going within the next 8 days i should be called up soon.
The general manager of Green Depot told NY1 they started investigating as soon as they became aware of this.
Within a week, Rivera was reinstated with full salary and benefits.
He said he's pleased with the outcome and hopes it will prompt military people to explore their rights and employers to value those who serve.
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