Early this year, Congress amended the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act to expand its protections for military service members and veterans.
USERRA gives service members the right to return to their former or equivalent civilian jobs if they meet specified conditions and forbids employers to discriminate against employees or applicants based on their military service.
The amendments, included in Section 221 of the Dole Act, took effect January 2. They will make it easier for courts to find employers liable for USERRA violations and, in many cases, will increase costs for employers that are found liable or decide to settle claims.
The amendments do the following:
- Clarify that USERRA covers both career and noncareer military service members;
- Extend the anti-discrimination protections to retaliatory actions as well as employment actions;
- Expand access to injunctive relief, making it easier for USERRA plaintiffs to seek reinstatement to their jobs;
- Allow a court to award liquidated damages of $50,000 for employers’ knowing failure to comply with USERRA; and
- Require a court to award attorneys’ fees when an employee wins a suit.
Members of the Center for Workplace Compliance (CWC), our affiliated nonprofit membership association, can read more here.