The Veterans Benefits Improvement Act of 2004 (VBIA) imposed a requirement that employers provide employees a notice of USERRA rights, benefits and obligations. This requirement became effective March 10, 2005. The DOL’s Veterans’ Employment and Training Service (VETS) previously issued interim guidance that included the text of the notice, in the form of a poster. Employers may provide the notice in writing to employees as an alternative to posting the notice. Employers already should have complied with this notice requirement.
On December 19, 2005, VETS published final regulations, and, in response to comments on the interim guidance, made two minor modifications in the text of the notice. The modifications:
- add language that USERRA protects certain types of service in the National Disaster Medical System; and
- reflect that the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) will handle some USERRA claims against federal executive agencies.
In recognition of the potential involvement of OSC in some claims, the final regulations also include a second poster designed specifically for use by federal executive agencies. The final regulations are effective on January 18, 2006.
If an employer previously has not provided the required USERRA notice, the employer should do so and may download the poster text from the DOL web site at: http://www.dol.gov/elaws/userra.htm. An employer that previously posted the notice should substitute the new poster in order to be in technical compliance with the final regulations.
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