USERRA has extremely broad coverage, provides a wide range of protections, and applies over long time periods. The discrimination provisions of the law cover every individual who serves in, plans to serve in, or has served in the uniformed services of the United States. The law’s reemployment and benefit provisions are applicable to some active duty military personnel as well as to National Guard and Reserve members. USERRA applies to public and private employers in the United States, regardless of size, and includes federal, state, and local governments, as well as for-profit and not-for profit private sector firms. It also applies in overseas workplaces that are owned or controlled by U.S. employers. Generally, servicemembers are entitled to the reemployment rights and benefits provided by USERRA if they meet certain conditions. These include having held a civilian job prior to call-up, serving fewer than 5 years of cumulative military service with respect to that employer, providing their employer with advance notice of their service requirement when possible, leaving service under honorable conditions, and reporting back to work or applying for reemployment in a timely manner. Provided servicemembers meet their USERRA requirements, they are entitled to prompt reinstatement to the positions they would have held if they had never left their employment, or to positions of like seniority, status, and pay; health coverage for a designated period of time while absent from their employers, and immediate reinstatement of health coverage upon return; training, as needed, to requalify for their jobs; periods of protection against discharge based on the length of service; non-seniority benefits that are available to other employees who are on leaves of absence. Figure 1 is a flowchart that shows servicemembers’ options for receiving federal assistance with their USERRA complaints. While the flowchart shows several different paths for resolving employment problems, the chart does not show all of the options available to servicemembers. Some servicemembers have used members of their military chain-of-command to help them resolve problems with their employers. In addition, the ESGR is available to provide information and informal mediation of USERRA- related employment problems. The DOL offers assistance similar to the ESGR in that it provides information to employers and employees, and works to informally resolve USERRA-related employment problems. The DOL also receives formal complaints from servicemembers under USERRA. Another option that is available to servicemembers at any time is to hire a private attorney and to file a complaint against their employer in court (for private employers and state and local governments) or before the Merit Systems Protection Board (for federal employers). However, a working group from the American Bar Association found that many private attorneys are reluctant to take USERRA complaints because cases are not likely to result in large judgments or settlements. The responsibility for enforcing and implementing USERRA is complex, involving several federal agencies. Under USERRA, specific outreach, investigative, and enforcement roles are assigned to DOD, DOL, DOJ, and OSC. Most of the people entitled to USERRA rights and benefits earn their entitlement while serving in the military services. The Secretary of Defense shares responsibility with DOL for informing servicemembers and employers of their rights, benefits, and obligations under the act. The ESGR carries out this responsibility for DOD. The ESGR was established in 1972 to manage activities that maintain and enhance employers’ support for the reserve components, and it has a goal to inform servicemembers and their employers of their respective USERRA rights and responsibilities. The Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Personnel and Readiness) develops the policies, plans, and programs that manage the readiness of both active and reserve forces, and within that office, the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs oversees the activities of the ESGR. The ESGR has a staff of about 55—18 civilians and 37 military personnel— at its national headquarters in Arlington, Virginia. However, much of the ESGR’s work is done through its more than 4,000 volunteers who are organized into state committees. These volunteers help to educate both employers and servicemembers about USERRA, and a specially trained subgroup of about 800 volunteers serve as impartial ombudsmen who work to informally mediate USERRA issues that arise between servicemembers and their employers. While many volunteer ombudsmen are attorneys, human relations specialists, or have other backgrounds that assist them in their mediation work, all of the ESGR’s ombudsmen are required to attend a 3-day training course before they handle servicemember complaints. (App. II contains additional information about the backgrounds of these volunteer ombudsmen.) Most USERRA-related complaints come to the ESGR through its toll-free telephone number (1-800-336-4590), which is answered at the ESGR’s Customer Service Center in Millington, Tennessee. The customer service representatives in Tennessee screen calls, fill requests for information, and forward complaints that appear to have merit to volunteer ombudsmen, who are generally located geographically near the servicemembers. The complaints are often channeled through state ombudsmen coordinators. The ESGR’s volunteer ombudsmen attempt to resolve pay-related USERRA complaints within 7 days and other USERRA complaints within 14 days. When ombudsmen cannot resolve servicemember complaints, they are to notify the servicemembers of the other options that are available to address complaints. The ombudsmen may then pass the complaints to the ESGR headquarters through their state ombudsman coordinators. The Secretary of Labor has responsibility for providing assistance to servicemembers who claim USERRA rights and benefits. This responsibility is carried out primarily through the efforts of VETS. VETS is led by an assistant secretary who is supported by headquarters, regional, and state staff as well as local investigators. When a servicemember leaves active duty and a USERRA-related complaint develops against the servicemember’s civilian employer, the servicemember can file a formal complaint at www.vets1010.dol.gov, or can file a printed copy of the complaint form, such as the one included in appendix III, with the Secretary of Labor. The complaint is then assigned to one of VETS’s approximately 125 investigators, generally an investigator who is located close to the employer. These VETS investigators examine USERRA complaints and try to help the servicemembers and employers resolve their differences. The investigators also typically have a host of other responsibilities that support veterans’ programs but that are not directly related to USERRA. The law gives DOL subpoena power over records and individuals to aid in its investigations, but officials note that subpoenas are used infrequently because the threat alone is usually enough to gain cooperation. The statute also states that the Secretary of Labor may use the assistance of volunteers and may request assistance from other agencies engaged in similar or related activities. When DOL is unable to resolve servicemember complaints, DOL informs the servicemembers that they may request to have their complaints referred. A complaint is referred to DOJ if it involves state or local governments or private employers or to OSC if it involves a federal executive agency. Before complaints are sent to DOJ or OSC, they are reviewed by a VETS regional office, which reviews the memorandums of referral to ensure that the investigations are thorough and that the documentation is accurate and sufficient. The referrals are also reviewed by a DOL regional solicitor’s office to assess the complaints’ legal basis. Both offices render opinions on the merits of the complaints. Even if both offices find that the complaints have no merit, DOL is required by the act to pass the complaints to DOJ or OSC if the servicemembers request referrals. Along with their investigation and mediation responsibilities, VETS investigators also conduct briefings to educate employers and servicemembers about USERRA requirements and responsibilities, and they field service-related employment and reemployment questions that are directed to their offices. These investigators are required to take three courses that train them in the basics of the USERRA law, advanced investigative techniques, and the differences between veterans’ preference issues and USERRA discrimination issues. Under USERRA, the Secretary of Labor reports USERRA information to Congress on an annual basis, after consulting with the Attorney General and Special Counsel. The Secretary’s report includes information about the number of complaints reviewed by DOL during the fiscal year for which the report is filed along with the number of complaints referred to DOJ or OSC. The annual report should also address the nature and status of each complaint and should state “whether there are any apparent patterns of violation.” Finally, the report should include any recommendations for administrative or legislative action that the Secretary of Labor, the Attorney General, or Special Counsel consider necessary to effectively implement USERRA. USERRA also granted DOL authority to issue regulations that implement USERRA provisions for state and local government and private employers. In its most recent report to Congress, the department did not note any apparent patterns of violation. DOL did note that it had published draft regulations implementing USERRA for the first time on September 20, 2004, and DOL has completed the evaluation of comments that were submitted in response to these draft regulations. DOL has submitted the final regulations to OMB for formal review prior to publication in the Federal Register, and publication is expected in the near future. The Attorney General is assigned enforcement responsibilities under USERRA, but DOJ is not authorized to receive USERRA complaints directly from servicemembers. It investigates, mediates, and litigates only private sector or state or local government complaints that it receives from DOL.