USERRA Attorney in Houston
03-02-2017, 03:45 PM
#1
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USERRA Attorney in Houston
My son is having trouble at work, as a result of his absences for ANG duty. He is pretty unaware of what help is available and works in a non union office job.
From what little I know and have read ther isn't much help outside of legal action.
Can anyone personally recommend an attorney in Houston experienced with USERRA and representing military in civilian jobs.
From what little I know and have read ther isn't much help outside of legal action.
Can anyone personally recommend an attorney in Houston experienced with USERRA and representing military in civilian jobs.
03-02-2017, 03:58 PM
#2
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Originally Posted by BMEP100
My son is having trouble at work, as a result of his absences for ANG duty. He is pretty unaware of what help is available and works in a non union office job.
From what little I know and have read ther isn't much help outside of legal action.
Can anyone personally recommend an attorney in Houston experienced with USERRA and representing military in civilian jobs.
From what little I know and have read ther isn't much help outside of legal action.
Can anyone personally recommend an attorney in Houston experienced with USERRA and representing military in civilian jobs.
https://www.dol.gov/vets/programs/userra/
03-03-2017, 10:22 AM
#3
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I've been in the reserves 26 plus years and have worked for 5 airline, 1 corporate flt dept and as a concractor for large defense firm. He needs to to all notifications on mil leave and return from mil leave via email. He needs to read receipt and email delivery notification. If a case goes to DOJ and he has not done this, then its a "he said she said" deal and he will lose. He needs to get on the ESGR website and be very familiar with all the rules and time limits for coming and going. As a former Sq CC I've told guys its on them to CYA on this issue. Good luck. Also ESGR rep will be happy to talk to his boss to educate him to help him out.
03-03-2017, 02:19 PM
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Originally Posted by WhenPigsFLy
I've been in the reserves 26 plus years and have worked for 5 airline, 1 corporate flt dept and as a concractor for large defense firm. He needs to to all notifications on mil leave and return from mil leave via email. He needs to read receipt and email delivery notification. If a case goes to DOJ and he has not done this, then its a "he said she said" deal and he will lose. He needs to get on the ESGR website and be very familiar with all the rules and time limits for coming and going. As a former Sq CC I've told guys its on them to CYA on this issue. Good luck. Also ESGR rep will be happy to talk to his boss to educate him to help him out.
He said he has always been careful about notifications.
He didn't have any problem for years, but then he was asked to take a temporary assignment for the company and use his Mil ID to get on some bases where the company has projects, because there was not time to get anyone cleared. He turned it down for family reasons. Since then, lots of problems like the latest;
Where his boss forgot to assign his project while he was gone, and got caught up short by his boss.
03-04-2017, 07:12 AM
#5
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Careful with USEERA/ESGR. It works well for airlines and many blue collar jobs because they use seniority systems which make it VERY hard for the company to jerk you around on a whim, because most of the punitive actions would violate seniority which is protected in a black-and-white manner. Also job performance evaluation is much more objective and transparent than in white collar (did you pass sim this year? Good-to-go. Did you install X number of bolts on the assembly line? Good-to-go.) If they want to say deny a promotion from FO to CA, they would need concrete justification, AND the ability to show that this was consistent with past practices for other employees.
White-collar salaried employees OTOH are largely at the mercy of the employer. If you push back too hard, involve the unit/ESGR, they typically fall into line for a while but payback will be a you-know-what down the line. BTDT, and seen it countless times with my reserve personnel. It's very predictable and consistent, almost like clockwork, 18-24 months out. Then they'll start documenting your inevitable performance failings, and building the paper trail. They often won't actually fire you, but the toxic climate will encourage most folks to leave on their own. And you'll be at the very pinnacle of the layoff list, in the event legitimate layoffs occur they'll sweep you away under that cover. Not a nice way to live life.
My recommendations for dealing with white collar employers...
1) Try to educate them. In some cases, USEERA violations are due to lack of knowledge, or misunderstanding. Common if they have few or no other reservists, management and HR may have simply not experienced the various issues. Common assumption is that mil duty is "only" one weekend a month and two weeks a year...and they'll often "assume" you'll take vacation for the two weeks. If you're fairly senior and have credibility, you can have this conversation with them yourself (review applicable rules and bring documentation to back up your explanation). If you're junior, you may want to bring someone from the unit or even ESGR who can lend credibility and articulate your position...but let them know in advance, and let them know the person is there to educate so they don't think you're lawyering up.
2) If it's clear they know better (or don't care) and are intentionally punishing you, it's probably because they are resentful and feel you're taking advantage or leaving them in a bad spot. In this case there's bad blood you have to overcome. Best approach here is to request a meeting and portray yourself as being caught in a bind between mil and civilian job, ie your military obligation is making it hard to devote the necessary time to your civilian job. You just want to fulfill your current obligation/tour or get to 20. Basically make it you and the boss against the military. If you can convince the employer that they're really your priority, and you're just stuck with military for the time being you may be able to buy some sympathy and time. You'll probably want to make some visible concessions such as perhaps fewer weekday drills for a while. Unless you really are near the end of your mil career, you may want to use the breathing room to look for a better job.
3) If it's just going nowhere fast, better find a new job. Maybe your network can help you find employers which are more tolerant of reserves.
Is this the spirit and intent of USEERA? Absolutely not. But unfortunately it's the reality in many cases, and one of the reasons I gave up white collar to do airlines. And I don't entirely blame the employers...if key employees who are mil (often leaders/managers) leave at awkward times it can really put the organization in bind. Reserve duty (as it exists in the post 9/11 world) is not particularly compatible with all civilian jobs.
You can fight it to the hilt, but that's likely to be ugly and toxic and they'll get you in the end if that's what they want to do. Managers have long memories and hold grudges. And then you'll have baggage in the form of a disciplinary track record. And of course you don't want to tell a potential future employer that you got unfairly disciplined for taking too much mil leave...
White-collar salaried employees OTOH are largely at the mercy of the employer. If you push back too hard, involve the unit/ESGR, they typically fall into line for a while but payback will be a you-know-what down the line. BTDT, and seen it countless times with my reserve personnel. It's very predictable and consistent, almost like clockwork, 18-24 months out. Then they'll start documenting your inevitable performance failings, and building the paper trail. They often won't actually fire you, but the toxic climate will encourage most folks to leave on their own. And you'll be at the very pinnacle of the layoff list, in the event legitimate layoffs occur they'll sweep you away under that cover. Not a nice way to live life.
My recommendations for dealing with white collar employers...
1) Try to educate them. In some cases, USEERA violations are due to lack of knowledge, or misunderstanding. Common if they have few or no other reservists, management and HR may have simply not experienced the various issues. Common assumption is that mil duty is "only" one weekend a month and two weeks a year...and they'll often "assume" you'll take vacation for the two weeks. If you're fairly senior and have credibility, you can have this conversation with them yourself (review applicable rules and bring documentation to back up your explanation). If you're junior, you may want to bring someone from the unit or even ESGR who can lend credibility and articulate your position...but let them know in advance, and let them know the person is there to educate so they don't think you're lawyering up.
2) If it's clear they know better (or don't care) and are intentionally punishing you, it's probably because they are resentful and feel you're taking advantage or leaving them in a bad spot. In this case there's bad blood you have to overcome. Best approach here is to request a meeting and portray yourself as being caught in a bind between mil and civilian job, ie your military obligation is making it hard to devote the necessary time to your civilian job. You just want to fulfill your current obligation/tour or get to 20. Basically make it you and the boss against the military. If you can convince the employer that they're really your priority, and you're just stuck with military for the time being you may be able to buy some sympathy and time. You'll probably want to make some visible concessions such as perhaps fewer weekday drills for a while. Unless you really are near the end of your mil career, you may want to use the breathing room to look for a better job.
3) If it's just going nowhere fast, better find a new job. Maybe your network can help you find employers which are more tolerant of reserves.
Is this the spirit and intent of USEERA? Absolutely not. But unfortunately it's the reality in many cases, and one of the reasons I gave up white collar to do airlines. And I don't entirely blame the employers...if key employees who are mil (often leaders/managers) leave at awkward times it can really put the organization in bind. Reserve duty (as it exists in the post 9/11 world) is not particularly compatible with all civilian jobs.
You can fight it to the hilt, but that's likely to be ugly and toxic and they'll get you in the end if that's what they want to do. Managers have long memories and hold grudges. And then you'll have baggage in the form of a disciplinary track record. And of course you don't want to tell a potential future employer that you got unfairly disciplined for taking too much mil leave...
03-04-2017, 12:14 PM
#6
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Rickair,
I appreciate the sentiments and agree. He is an employee "at will" and all promotions, reviews, raises are based on subjective data.
He is the only reservist in the office. It comes down to the distinction with no difference as to what is right versus what they can get away with legally.
There has been a lot of turn over in the mgt. and a lot of good ole boys who are in over their heads, so having to deal with a key employee being legally excused regularly is a tough nut for middle mgt. The solution for them is to get rid of the problem, if they think no one is going to look up their skirt and they can get a away with it.
The mgt that hired him was more competent but unfortunately gone to greener pastures.
He is working the network and looking else where, but the oil/gas business is still a hard story right now.
Unless he gets really lucky and finds a position elsewhere, he is going to have to fight to keep what he has. His current boss in former Army, so he knows the rule, or at least should.
I appreciate the sentiments and agree. He is an employee "at will" and all promotions, reviews, raises are based on subjective data.
He is the only reservist in the office. It comes down to the distinction with no difference as to what is right versus what they can get away with legally.
There has been a lot of turn over in the mgt. and a lot of good ole boys who are in over their heads, so having to deal with a key employee being legally excused regularly is a tough nut for middle mgt. The solution for them is to get rid of the problem, if they think no one is going to look up their skirt and they can get a away with it.
The mgt that hired him was more competent but unfortunately gone to greener pastures.
He is working the network and looking else where, but the oil/gas business is still a hard story right now.
Unless he gets really lucky and finds a position elsewhere, he is going to have to fight to keep what he has. His current boss in former Army, so he knows the rule, or at least should.
03-04-2017, 01:03 PM
#8
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Originally Posted by navigatro
you would think this is true, but in my experience, it is not the case.
03-24-2017, 08:52 PM
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Interesting development
After having some time to mull all this over, he sent an email to his boss,with cc to HR, citing USERRA and asking that his disciplinary letter be withdrawn.
His boss met with him and told him the discipline was not because he went on mil leave, but because he did not find someone in his group to take over his project, while he was gone! He was supposed to delegate his work to someone else during his absence. He was told they are going to implement a policy for a new procedure that would require everyone to keep all other team members apprised of where they are on a project before leaving each day, in case, God forbid something would happen to them and could not return the next day to continue the project. Yeah ,he's looking but the oil field is tough.
Like I said, he is the only mil guy in the department or the whole office in his city. He thinks ,and I agree they are setting him up.
Requiring a reservist to find a co worker to cover his tasks while out on mil duty would tend to discourage participation in mil duty. Wonder what his management would say if everyone he asked to cover said they were too busy.??
He's trying to decide now what to do next.
His boss met with him and told him the discipline was not because he went on mil leave, but because he did not find someone in his group to take over his project, while he was gone! He was supposed to delegate his work to someone else during his absence. He was told they are going to implement a policy for a new procedure that would require everyone to keep all other team members apprised of where they are on a project before leaving each day, in case, God forbid something would happen to them and could not return the next day to continue the project. Yeah ,he's looking but the oil field is tough.
Like I said, he is the only mil guy in the department or the whole office in his city. He thinks ,and I agree they are setting him up.
Requiring a reservist to find a co worker to cover his tasks while out on mil duty would tend to discourage participation in mil duty. Wonder what his management would say if everyone he asked to cover said they were too busy.??
He's trying to decide now what to do next.
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