---
title: "USERRA Rights and the Law – What Organizations Should Know!"
description: "UNIFORMED SERVICES EMPLOYMENT AND REEMPLOYMENT RIGHTS ACT OF 1994   The basics of the law are: Coverage: Virtually all employers, regardless of the number of employees. Eligibility: Virtually all empl..."
url: https://www.dashrconsulting.com/userra-rights-law-organizations-know/
date: 2019-07-01
modified: 2026-08-08
author: "Dr. Di Ann Sanchez"
categories: ["HR Compliance", "HR Legislative Updates", "Human Resources"]
tags: ["Dr. Di Ann Sanchez", "USERRA"]
type: post
lang: en
---

# USERRA Rights and the Law – What Organizations Should Know!

# UNIFORMED SERVICES EMPLOYMENT AND REEMPLOYMENT RIGHTS ACT OF 1994

 

**The basics of the law are:**

- **Coverage:** Virtually all employers, regardless of the number of employees.
- **Eligibility:** Virtually all employees who perform “service in the uniformed services”
- **“Uniformed services” **means Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, reserves of those branches, Army and Air National Guard, and others designated by the president in a time of war or national emergency.
- **“Service in the uniformed services”** means:
  - Active duty,
  - Active duty for training,
  - Inactive duty training (such as drills),
  - Initial active duty training,
  - Funeral honors duty performed by the National Guard and reserve members, *and*
  - Fitness for duty examinations.
- **Employee protections** include:
  - Reinstatement rights;
  - Prompt reemployment;
  - Retraining, if necessary, for example, to regain an expired license or to be trained on upgrades in systems (the burden is on the employer to provide this);
  - Reasonable accommodations for injuries/aggravations;
  - Seniority/benefit accrual while on leave;
  - Protection from discrimination based on military service; *and*
  - Employers required to show “cause” for terminations occurring up to a year after return from service, depending on the length of leave.  (Employment at will is “out the window,”  but you can still terminate for cause.)

- **Employer protections** include:
  - The notice required unless “impossible, unreasonable, or precluded by military necessity.”
  - Five- (5) year cumulative limit on protected leave; however, a number of exceptions apply.
  - Undue hardship defense to reinstatement (but this is a fairly tough standard—tighter than Title VII or the Americans with Disabilities Act).
  - Reinstatement not required where prior employment was for a brief, nonrecurrent period.
  - Right to documentation for leave of 30-plus days.
- **Notice Requirements: **
  - Employer to post “Your Rights Under USERRA.”
  - Employee strongly suggested to give 30 days’ notice prior to leaving but not specifically required (no notice if impossible or by military necessity).
  - Employee to notify of intent to return
    - Up to 30 days of service: within 8 hours;
    - 31 to 180 days: within 14 days;
    - 181+ days: up to 90 days after service; *or *
    - Extended up to 2 years for servicemembers who are hospitalized or convalescing.
- **Reinstatement Rights: **
  - Return to the position that would have been achieved if the employee had not gone on leave (“the “escalator” position);
  - If the escalator position is not available, return to the same position or similar position as previously held, depending on the length of leave involved;
  - Retraining required if necessary; *or*
  - Reasonable accommodations required for employees injured or with aggravated prior conditions resulting from military service.

https://www.justice.gov/crt-military/uniformed-services-employment-and-reemployment-rights-act-1994