Veterans Struggle to Find Work
Members
of the armed services returning from active duty or completing military
service are facing real challenges in the workplace. Despite critical
legal protections offered by both the Massachusetts anti-discrimnation
law, G.L. c. 151B, §(1)(D), and the Federal Uniformed Services
Employment and Reemployment Rights Act ("USERRA"), 38
U.S.C.4311(a), returning veterans and others completing military
service are struggling to find work or return to their jobs. Still
others face reprisals from their employers when taking leave to complete
military training requirements. Some job seekers report a dramatic
increase in the number of employer views of their resume on Monster when
they remove their "veteran preference" flag from their online profile.
Recent
actions by the President and Congress demonstrate support for
veterans. The President has proposed a Returning Heroes Tax Credit to
encourage employers to hire more veterans and both houses of Congress
recently passed the VOW to Hire Heroes Act which, among other
provisions, strengthens USERRA by explicitly prohibiting harassment of
veterans on the job. Once enacted, this law will go a long way toward overturning a bad decision in Carder v. Continental Airlines,
636 F.3d 172 (5th Cir., 2011), in which the 5th Circuit Court of
Appeals ruled that service members do not have a claim for workplace
harassment under USERRA. While much more needs to be done to
help veterans and those returning from military service, these
initiatives are a good start.
The Center for Jobs & Justice was formed to help job seekers and employees fight for justice.
Because job discrimination isn't
Just Business
