WASHINGTON — They proudly answered the call to duty.
But when National Guard members and reservists come home, sometimes they encounter roadblocks getting their civilian jobs back.
Lawmakers heard all about the problem Thursday on Capitol Hill.
The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA) is a federal law designed to protect military service members and veterans, including reservists and National Guard members, from employment discrimination on the basis of their service.
The act is supposed to allow the nation's more than 800,000 active reserve component members to regain their civilian jobs following a period of uniformed service.
But the House Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity heard testimony about the law being skirted.
"It's imperative that employers comply with USERRA. But, employers often fail to do so," said Jonathan E. Taylor, an attorney and a principal at Gupta Wessler, a national law firm focused on Supreme Court and appellate advocacy.
Also weighing in was Mike Hadley, Director of Legislative Affairs, National Guard Association of the United States. He said: "Regardless of what the law says, we know that Guard members' ability to find and maintain steady employment has been impacted and challenged."
Rep. Mike Levin (D, California) said the problem is widespread.
"Congress passed USERRA to ensure that no service member loses their job or is discriminated against when they answer the call of duty," he said. "Under USERRA, the Department of Labor investigates around 1,000 violations each year."
The panel's chairman had stern words for any employer who fails to abide.
"To be clear, the law is the law," said Rep Derrick Van Orden (R, Wisconsin). "And I will not stand for those companies or government entities who wave the flag and post patriotic videos on Veterans Day and Memorial Day but then fail to support our service members and their families when they're deployed, Not on my watch."
Military and veterans advocacy groups such as the Veterans of Foreign Wars are urging Congress to close a loophole in the law related to forced arbitration agreements.
Those legal clauses prevent service members from taking their cases to court when big corporations break the law and violate their rights.
In a 2021 report, the Government Accountability Office said the full extent of the effects of mandatory arbitration agreements on service members is unknown.