Human Resource Blog

USERRA in Alaska for Dishonorably Dishcharged Employee

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We have an employee in Alaska that was dishonorably discharged from the military. He wishes to return, but we are not sure that he is still covered by USERRA because of the dishonorable discharge. Is he?

If an employee has taken time away from work in order to serve in the military, then the employee is protected by the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act as long as the employee follows certain guidelines. If the employee has been dishonorably discharged from the military, then the employee no longer is covered by USERRA. Thus, the employer is under no obligation to provide the employee with a job upon returning to work.

USERRA is a federal Act that is in place for employers and employees in all states, including Alaska. When an employee has already performed military service, or wishes to perform military service in the future, the employee should be able to do so under the protection of USERRA.

When an employee is covered by USERRA, the employer may not discriminate against the employee for reasons that are based on his or her military service. Also the employee should be able to take time away from work for military service and return to work after the period of service to have the same job or an equivalent job as he or she did prior to leaving for service. The salary and benefits should also be the same.

Employees may be covered by USERRA for taking time off for any branch of the military, including the U.S. Armed Forces, National Guard, Coast Guard, reserves, and Public Health Service. Also, employees are covered for a variety of types of service, including the following:

·         Active or inactive duty

·         Active or inactive duty for training

·         Voluntary or involuntary duty

·         Voluntary or involuntary duty for training

·         Full-time guard duty

In addition to not being discharged dishonorably, employees that wish to be covered by USERRA need to follow other rules. For example, they need to return to work within a time period that is based on their length of service.

For service lasting up to 30 days, the employee should return within one business day. For service lasting between 31 and 90 days, the employee should return to work within 14 business days after returning home. For service lasting more than 90 days, the employee has up to 181 days to return to work after returning home from service. CB