RETURNING TO CHANGE- Soldiers Back on the Job

Change and the fear of change are what pose the greatest challenge for all parties in a workplace situation that is becoming more and more common.

The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA) guarantees re-employment for any qualifying military member who must take leave from work to report for active duty. Under the law, employers must restore workers to the same position they held before deployment, if possible. When restoration to the same position is not possible, returning workers are to be placed in a similar job with equal pay. USERRA also contains an escalator clause guaranteeing no loss in promotion, pay increases, or seniority.

In spite of this guarantee, any employer who knowingly hires a Reserve or National Guard soldier has several reasonable fears: loss of a valued employee, cost of replacing that employee even on a temporary basis, and diminished production leading to loss of profits.

Just as USERRA provides guarantees to employees, employers want guarantees as well. An employer wants assurance that the employee will return to his or her former level of production or efficiency. An employer looks for reassurance that the business will not be adversely affected by false expectations when the employee returns, or by emotional alteration that may follow combat experience.

In these situations co-workers can also be stressed, with some realizing they must take on extra work, perhaps without commensurate pay, or may have to accept temporary help that is less efficient, less compatible, or less motivated to become so.

And of course for the worker/soldier who must leave a valued position to face combat situations far away, he or she knows that while that position is guaranteed, when the time comes to return, things will have changed, and it will be up to the returnee to find the path back to the formerly familiar comfort zone.

In June 2004, U.S. Army officials announced that in addition to service personnel already away from their jobs on active duty, an additional 5,674 were scheduled for deployment to Iraq or Afghanistan. Tours of active duty for this group were expected to be a minimum of twelve months and in some cases as much as eighteen months.

Robert Smiley, principal aide on troop training and mobilization to the Secretary of the Army, told a Pentagon news conference that in addition to the stated 5,674, more inactive soldiers were likely to be called up next year—that is, in 2005. While he declined to estimate the number, he would not rule out that it could run into the thousands.

So whose responsibility is it to make sure the transition to active duty and back is as smooth as possible?

Read more at www.returningtochange.com