Under a pilot project the Office of Special Counsel is taking cases under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act and it says it has obtained relief in a relatively high percentage of cases – 25 percent – during fiscal 2013.
About one year remains in the three-year demonstration project to expand OSC’s role in protecting the employment rights of returning service members, and it summarized a few of the cases it has worked on.
In one case a position held by an Army police officer changed while he was deployed as a member of the Army Reserves, resulting in promotions for his colleagues. After intervening, OSC said the agency agreed to give the officer a retroactive promotion with back pay, and place him in the correct position description and command structure with his colleagues.
In another case, the Department of Energy backed out of a promised promotion for Air Force Reservist away on active duty. OSC said that once it informed the agency of its obligations under USERRA, management gave the reservist a retroactive promotion with corresponding back pay and reassigned her within the agency, enabling her to get the experience and training necessary for further promotion.