I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3524 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide certain rights for persons 

who receive treatment for illnesses, injuries, and disabilities incurred 

in or aggravated by service in the uniformed services, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 30, 2011 

Mr. BRALEY of Iowa introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide certain 

rights for persons who receive treatment for illnesses, 

injuries, and disabilities incurred in or aggravated by 

service in the uniformed services, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Disabled Veterans Em5 ployment Protection Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. RIGHTS OF PERSONS WHO RECEIVE TREATMENT 

2 FOR ILLNESSES, INJURIES, AND DISABIL3 ITIES INCURRED IN OR AGGRAVATED BY 

4 SERVICE IN THE UNIFORMED SERVICES. 

5 (a) RIGHTS OF PERSONS WHO RECEIVE TREAT6 MENT.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 43 

8 of title 38, United States Code, is amended by add9 ing at the end the following new section: 

10 ‘‘§ 4320. Rights of persons absent from employment 

11 for treatment of service-connected dis12 abilities 

13 ‘‘(a) RETENTION.—Subject to subsection (e), a per14 son who is absent from a position of employment by rea15 son of the receipt of medical treatment for a service-con16 nected disability is entitled to be retained by the person’s 

17 employer. 

18 ‘‘(b) SENIORITY.—A person who is absent from em19 ployment by reason of the receipt of medical treatment 

20 for a service-connected disability and who is entitled to 

21 be retained by the person’s employer under subsection (a) 

22 is entitled to the seniority and other rights and benefits 

23 determined by seniority that the person had on the date 

24 of the commencement of such treatment plus the addi25 tional seniority and rights and benefits that such person 


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1 would have attained if the person had remained continu2 ously employed. 

3 ‘‘(c) BENEFITS.—(1) A person who is absent from 

4 a position of employment by reason of the receipt of med5 ical treatment for a service-connected disability and who 

6 is entitled to be retained by the person’s employer under 

7 subsection (a) shall be— 

8 ‘‘(A) deemed to be on furlough or leave of ab9 sence while receiving such treatment; and 

10 ‘‘(B) entitled to such other rights and benefits 

11 not determined by seniority as are generally provided 

12 by the employer of the person to employees having 

13 similar seniority, status, and pay who are on fur14 lough or leave of absence under a contract, agree15 ment, policy, practice, or plan in effect at the com16 mencement of such service or established while such 

17 person is so absent. 

18 ‘‘(2)(A) Subject to subparagraph (C), a person de19 scribed in subparagraph (B) is not entitled to rights and 

20 benefits under paragraph (1)(B). 

21 ‘‘(B) A person described in this subparagraph is a 

22 person who— 

23 ‘‘(i) is absent from a position of employment by 

24 reason of the receipt of medical treatment for a serv25 ice-connected disability; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) knowingly provides written notice of intent 

2 not to return to a position of employment after re3 ceiving such treatment. 

4 ‘‘(C) For the purposes of this paragraph, the em5 ployer shall have the burden of proving that a person 

6 knowingly provided clear written notice of intent not to 

7 return to a position of employment after being absent 

8 from employment by reason of the receipt of medical treat9 ment and, in doing so, was aware of the specific rights 

10 and benefits to be lost under subparagraph (A). 

11 ‘‘(3) A person deemed to be on furlough or leave of 

12 absence under this subsection while receiving medical 

13 treatment for a service-connected disability shall not be 

14 entitled under this subsection to any benefits to which the 

15 person would not otherwise be entitled if the person had 

16 remained continuously employed. 

17 ‘‘(4) Such person may be required to pay the em18 ployee cost, if any, of any funded benefit continued pursu19 ant to paragraph (1) to the extent other employees on fur20 lough or leave of absence are so required. 

21 ‘‘(5) The entitlement of a person to coverage under 

22 a health plan is provided for under section 4317 of this 

23 title. 

24 ‘‘(d) LEAVE.—Any person who is absent from a posi25 tion of employment with an employer by reason of the reVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:16 Dec 01, 2011 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3524.IH H3524

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1 ceipt of medical treatment for a service-connected dis2 ability shall be permitted, upon request of that person, to 

3 use during the period during which the person is so ab4 sent, any vacation, annual, medical, or similar leave with 

5 pay accrued by the person before the commencement of 

6 such period. No employer may require any such person 

7 to use vacation, annual, family, medical, or similar leave 

8 during such period. 

9 ‘‘(e) EXCEPTIONS.—(1) An employer is not required 

10 to comply with the requirements of this section if— 

11 ‘‘(A) the employer’s circumstances have so 

12 changed as to make such compliance impossible or 

13 unreasonable; 

14 ‘‘(B) such compliance would impose an undue 

15 hardship on the employer; or 

16 ‘‘(C) the employment from which the person is 

17 absent by reason of the receipt of medical treatment 

18 is for a brief, nonrecurrent period and there is no 

19 reasonable expectation that such employment will 

20 continue indefinitely or for a significant period. 

21 ‘‘(2) In any proceeding involving an issue of whether 

22 (A) any compliance referred to in paragraph (1) is impos23 sible or unreasonable because of a change in an employer’s 

24 circumstances, (B) such compliance would impose an 

25 undue hardship on the employer, or (C) the employment 


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1 referred to in paragraph (1)(C) is for a brief, nonrecurrent 

2 period and there is no reasonable expectation that such 

3 employment will continue indefinitely or for a significant 

4 period, the employer shall have the burden of proving the 

5 impossibility or unreasonableness, undue hardship, or the 

6 brief or nonrecurrent nature of the employment without 

7 a reasonable expectation of continuing indefinitely or for 

8 a significant period. 

9 ‘‘(f) LIMITATION.—This section shall apply with re10 spect to any absence from a position of employment with 

11 an employer by reason of the receipt of medical treatment 

12 for a service-connected disability as long as the aggregate 

13 period of such absence or absences is not more than 12 

14 workweeks during any 12-month period.’’. 

15 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec16 tions at the beginning of such chapter is amended 

17 by inserting after the item relating to section 4319 

18 the following new item: 

‘‘4320. Rights of persons absent from employment for treatment of service-connected disabilities.’’. 

19 (b) HEALTH PLAN.—Section 4317 of title 38, United 

20 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol21 lowing new subsection: 

22 ‘‘(c) This section shall apply with respect to a person 

23 who is absent from a position of employment by reason 

24 of the receipt of medical treatment for a service-connected 


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1 disability (other than a person described in section 

2 4320(c)(2)(B) of this title) on the same basis as a person 

3 who is absent from a position of employment by reason 

4 of service in the uniformed services. In the case of a per5 son who is absent from a position of employment by rea6 son of the receipt of medical treatment for a service-con7 nected disability (other than a person described in section 

8 4320(c)(2)(B) of this title), the period during which the 

9 person is so absent shall be treated as a period of service 

10 in the uniformed services for purposes of this section.’’. 

11 (c) PROHIBITION OF DISCRIMINATION AND ACTS OF

12 REPRISAL.—Section 4311 of title 38, United States Code, 

13 is amended— 

14 (1) in subsection (a)— 

15 (A) by inserting after ‘‘uniformed service’’ 

16 the following: ‘‘, or who has an illness, injury, 

17 or disability determined by the Secretary of 

18 Veterans Affairs to have been incurred in or ag19 gravated by such service,’’; and 

20 (B) by striking ‘‘or obligation’’ and insert21 ing ‘‘obligation, or receipt of treatment for that 

22 illness, injury, or disability’’; and 

23 (2) in subsection (c)— 

24 (A) by striking ‘‘or obligation for service’’ 

25 the first time it appears and inserting ‘‘obligaVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:16 Dec 01, 2011 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3524.IH H3524

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1 tion for service, or receipt of treatment for an 

2 illness, injury, or disability determined by the 

3 Secretary of Veterans Affairs to have been in4 curred in or aggravated by service’’; and 

5 (B) by striking ‘‘or obligation for service’’ 

6 the second time it appears and inserting ‘‘obli7 gation for service, or receipt of treatment’’. 

8 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

9 this section shall apply with respect to medical treatment 

10 received on or after the date that is 90 days after the date 

11 of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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