AFSCME Information Highway

Source: Dan Van Bogaert, Employee Relations Law Journal, Vol. 33, no. 4, Spring 2008

More than a quarter of a million soldiers have returned from military service to their previous civilian jobs in recent years. What this means is employers need to pay closer attention to the recruitment, selection, and retention of employees with military backgrounds. Because of the pervasive scope military conflict throughout the world today, there are increasing numbers of employees and job applicants with military service backgrounds. Therefore, most employers are affected by this circumstance, even those organizations that may not currently employ workers who are on military leave.

Although some of the concerns regarding post traumatic stress disorder have been exaggerated, employers still face many challenges relating to employees returning from military leave. This article thoroughly examines these challenges and related legal responsibilities of employers, and offers practical guidelines for human resources management.

Posted by Info Center at 5:04 PM in Employment Screening | Military | Veterans | Permalink

Source: U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Education and Labor, Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions, Press release, February 12, 2008

An increasing number of military service members and U.S. contractors working abroad are being discriminated against on the job and are left with little ability to hold their employers accountable for it, witnesses told the House Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions today.
"If a worker is wronged while on the job, then that employee should have every opportunity to be made whole under the law," said Rep. Rob Andrews (D-NJ), chairman of the subcommittee. "Unfortunately, there are too many loopholes in the law today and we have the responsibility to not allow any instance of discrimination to go unchecked."

Reserve troops returning home from active duty in places like Iraq and Afghanistan are finding it difficult to get their jobs back, government statistics show. According to a U.S. Defense Department report, more than 33,000 reserve service members from 2001 to 2005 have complained to the agency that their employers failed to give them their jobs back - as required by law - or received a reduction in pay and benefits.

▪ Witness testimonies from hearing

Posted by Info Center at 12:40 PM in Discrimination | Laws/Legislation | Military | Veterans | Permalink

Source: Democratic Caucus, U.S. House of Representatives, February 2008

In Congressional testimony last week, military officials confirmed America is vulnerable. The U.S. Armed Forces are strained to the breaking point, our National Guard and Reserves are stressed and depleted, and President Bush's latest budget cuts in half homeland security funds desperately needed by communities across the country. Nearly seven years after 9/11, and five years into a war in Iraq that continues to exhaust our troops with no end in sight, America may be at its most exposed. As Marine Maj. General Arnold L. Punaro said earlier this month, America now faces "an appalling gap in readiness for homeland defense."

Posted by Info Center at 12:35 PM in Emergency Management | Government | Military | Permalink

Source: Commission on National Guard and Reserves, Final Report to Congress and the Secretary of Defense, January 31, 2008
From an Associated Press story:
The U.S. military isn't ready for a catastrophic attack on the country, and National Guard forces don't have the equipment or training they need for the job, according to a report.

Even fewer Army National Guard units are combat-ready today than were nearly a year ago when the Commission on the National Guard and Reserves determined that 88% of the units were not prepared for the fight, the panel says in a new report released Thursday.

The independent commission is charged by Congress to recommend changes in law and policy concerning the Guard and Reserves.

Posted by Info Center at 11:02 AM in Emergency Management | Military | Permalink

Source: Congressional Budget Office

- Effects of Reserve call-ups on civilian employers
Source: Heidi Golding, Congressional Budget Office, Statement before the Commission on the National Guard and Reserves, May 17, 2007

My testimony, which draws from and updates a study that the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) published in May 2005, focuses on three topics:

- The characteristics of the firms that employ reservists;
- The combined effects of reservists’ activations and federal job protections on civilian employers, including self-employed reservists; and
- Options for mitigating the effects of reservists’ activations.

- Issues that affect the readiness of the Army National Guard and Army Reserve
Source: J. Michael Gilmore, Congressional Budget Office, Statement before the Commission on the National Guard and Reserves, May 16, 2007

My testimony focuses on four topics: past and projected operational tempos of the Army National Guard’s combat units; the overstructuring of the Guard and the need for cross-leveling to deploy its units; equipment shortages; and recruiting, retention, and end strength in the Army National Guard and Army Reserve.

Posted by Info Center at 10:36 AM in Military | Permalink