Overview

The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) is codified at 38 U.S.C. §§ 4301-4335. The USERRA rights and benefits of federal agency employees, and the obligations of agencies, are also codified in regulations at 5 C.F.R. Part 353.
The purposes of USERRA are:
- to encourage non-career service in the uniformed services by eliminating or minimizing the disadvantages to civilian careers and employment which can result from such service;
- to minimize the disruption to the lives of persons performing service in the uniformed services as well as to their employers, their fellow employees, and their communities, by providing for the prompt reemployment of such persons upon their completion of such service; and
- to prohibit discrimination against persons because of their service in the uniformed services.
USERRA provides that a person who claims that their employer has failed to comply with the law may file a complaint with the Department of Labor Veterans' Employment and Training Service, which must investigate the complaint. However, USERRA also allows a person to file a USERRA complaint against a federal agency directly with the Merit Systems Protection Board.