Employer Information

MN-1 DMAT thanks all employers of team members who allow there employee's to participate as members of this team. The work we do while we're deployed on missions, as well as time spent training for deployment, is vital to our nation's recovery from natural or manmade disasters.

Without your support MN-1 DMAT would not be able to fulfill its mission to provide medical support to our community, region or nation in times of need.

As an employer, or team member, you may have questions regarding your rights and the laws governing deployment and training. Your questions can be addressed to:

Kevin Nagel

Director

Veterans' Employment and Training Service

U.S. Department of Labor
651-296-3665 or Nagel.Kevin@dol.gov

Press Release

New USERRA Employer Responsibilities Going into Effect 1/18/06

SUNRISE, Fla., Jan. 11, 2006 -- For the second consecutive year, U.S. employers have new USERRA responsibilities regarding employees who take military leave from their jobs.

In December 2004, President Bush signed into law a USERRA amendment that requires employers - small or large, public or private - to give employees notice of their job and health insurance protections if they enter or return from military service.

On Dec. 19, 2005, the federal Department of Labor issued a USERRA "final rule" that now requires employers to officially inform employees who are members of the National Disaster Medical System (NDMS) that they also have such employment and insurance protections. This mandate takes effect Jan. 18, 2006.

NDMS is an asset-sharing program among federal agencies, state and local governments, private businesses and civilian volunteers. It provides medical resources after a disaster that overwhelms local health care providers.

What Employers Need to Know About USERRA

USERRA - the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act - was enacted in 1994 to protect the workplace rights of employees who take leave for active-duty military service. But, as the labor law experts at Sunrise-based G.Neil Inc. caution, the recent revisions to the law have created additional compliance obligations for employers.

"USERRA applies to all employers due to the anti-discrimination provision of the law, which prohibits discrimination against applicants and employees on the basis of their military status or affiliation," explained Ashley Kaplan, head of the G.Neil legal team.

"Don't make the mistake," she stressed to employers, "of thinking USERRA doesn't apply to you because you don't have any employees who are currently in the uniformed services. You could have some tomorrow, so you need to be informed."

Make Sure You Know the Basics

"Because USERRA provides employment protections for active-duty military personnel, it simultaneously limits an employer's freedom to hire or promote employees," Kaplan noted. G.Neil's legal team advises employers to be aware of these other USERRA basics:

Employment Rights: In general, an employee returning from military duty is entitled to reemployment in his or her former position - or one of comparable seniority, status and pay - unless conditions in the workplace have changed so radically that reemployment would be "impossible" or "unreasonable."

The Escalator Principle: When reemployed, the returning workers are to be placed on the seniority scale not just at the place where they left but in the position they most likely would be if they had stayed on the job.

Vacations and Benefits: If you grant vacation days based on years of service, a returning soldier's benefit must be calculated as if he or she never left.

G.Neil, which has specialized in labor law and human resource solutions for more than 16 years, offers numerous tools to help employers meet their HR challenges, including its USERRA Comprehensive Kit to assist with compliance. For more information or to request a catalog, call toll-free 1-800-999-9111 or visit http://www.gneil.com.

For more information, contact:

Ashley Kaplan
954-514-2311

MN-1 DMAT members, as well as all other members of the National Disaster Medical System are considered to be part of the Uniformed Services and are covered under the following PUBLIC HEALTH SECURITY AND BIOTERRORISM PREPAREDNESS AND RESPONSE ACT.

For more information on this Public Law please copy and paste the following web address to your internet browser.

http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=107_cong_public_laws&docid=f:publ188.107

PUBLIC HEALTH SECURITY AND BIOTERRORISM PREPAREDNESS AND RESPONSE ACT OF 2002

[[Page 116 STAT. 594]]

Public Law 107-188
107th Congress

An Act

To improve the ability of the United States to prevent, prepare for, and respond to bioterrorism and other public health emergencies. <<NOTE: June 12, 2002 - [H.R. 3448]>>

``(3) Employment and reemployment rights.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Service as an intermittent
                disaster-response appointee when the Secretary activates
                the National Disaster Medical System or when the
                individual participates in a training program authorized
                by the Assistant Secretary for Public Health Emergency
                Preparedness or a comparable official of any Federal
                agency specified in subsection (b)(2)(B) shall be deemed
                `service in the uniformed services' for purposes of
                chapter 43 of title 38, United States Code, pertaining
                to employment and reemployment rights of individuals who
                have performed service in the uniformed services
                (regardless of whether the individual receives
                compensation for such participation). All rights and
                obligations of such persons and procedures for
                assistance, enforcement, and investigation shall be as
                provided for in chapter 43 of title 38, United States
                Code.
                    ``(B) Notice of absence from position of
                employment.--Preclusion of giving notice of service by
                necessity of Service as an intermittent disaster-
                response appointee when the Secretary activates the
                National Disaster Medical System shall be deemed
                preclusion by `military necessity' for purposes of
                section 4312(b) of title 38, United States Code,
                pertaining to giving notice of absence from a position
                of employment. A determination of such necessity shall
                be made by the Secretary, in consultation with the
                Secretary of Defense, and shall not be subject to
                judicial review.
            ``(4) Limitation.--An intermittent disaster-response
        appointee shall not be deemed an employee of the Department of
        Health and Human Services for purposes other than those
        specifically set forth in this section.

For more information on USERRA, interested parties may go to the U.S. Department of Labor's USERRA Advisor Home Page at the following link: http://www.dol.gov/elaws/userra.htm