Veterans' Reemployment Rights Act

The Veterans' Reemployment Rights Act (3 U.S.C. §416) protects the employment of uniformed personnel who are called upon to leave their employment to perform service in the "uniform service" (the use of "Veteran" in the popular name for the Act is actually misleading, since it applies to actively enlisted men and women). The Act defines ''service in the uniformed services'' as "the performance of duty on a voluntary or involuntary basis in a uniformed service under competent authority and includes active duty, active duty for training, initial active duty for training, inactive duty training, full-time National Guard duty, a period for which a person is absent from a position of employment for the purpose of an examination to determine the fitness of the person to perform any such duty, and a period for which a person is absent from employment for the purpose of performing funeral honors duty participate in active duty."

The Act prohibits discrimination against uniformed persons called into service; and requires employers to re-employ and preserve their employment benefits.  The Act is enforceable by the Attorney General of the United States, or by private action, in federal court. In the event of violation, the court may require the employer to comply with the provisions of this chapter and reinstate the employee; it may require the employer to compensate the person for any loss of wages or benefits suffered by reason of such employer's failure to comply with the provisions of the law; it may require the employer to pay the person liquidated (double) damages if the court determines that the employer's failure to comply with the provisions of this chapter was willful; and it can award legal fees and the expenses of litigation, if the employee pursues a remedy by private action.

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