American Employers Recognized for Patriotism

humanevents.com ^ | 09/23/2008 | James David Dickson

[kellynla]

Deployment to the battlefield is the gravest and most important form of national service. But as the country learned during Vietnam, the most important battles are often fought on the home front. Troops who are preoccupied with whether the grass is getting cut or if the bills are being paid can’t give their focus to the task at hand. This puts their entire unit at risk and lives at stake.

That doesn’t make it any less understandable. Deployed for up to 18 months at a time in strange, hostile lands, it is natural for a soldier’s thoughts to revert to home and family.

But the one thing the troops don’t have to worry about is whether their jobs will be there waiting for them when they return from battle.

In 1994, President Clinton signed the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act into law. USERRA guarantees that deployed troops who follow proper employer notification procedures have their jobs waiting for them upon return. Employers who violate USERRA are in hot water with the Department of Labor.

Peace of mind is the most important gift that can be granted our deployed troops. The Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR) was founded in 1972, in the midst of the Vietnam War, to speak on behalf of deployed troops and act as a liaison to their employers. ESGR satellites in each state to explain to local employers their duties under USERRA and mediate disputes between servicemen and their empoyers.

There are no minimum standards for participation in the ESGR. “All we need from employers,” beyond following the law of the land, “is to know that they support our troops,” said ESGR’s Lt. Col. Michelle Barrett.

[kellynla]

List of 2008 Employer Support Freedom Award Recipients:

Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma -- Durant, Okla.

Chrysler LLC -- Auburn Hills, Mich.

City of Austin -- Austin, Texas

Coastal Windows, Inc. -- Waipahu, Hawaii

Dominion Resources, Inc. -- Richmond, Va.

Jersey City Fire Department -- Jersey City, N.J.

Lochinvar Corporation -- Lebanon, Tenn.

Oakland County Sheriff’s Office -- Pontiac, Mich.

Oshkosh Corporation -- Oshkosh, Wis.

Regional Emergency Medical Services Authority -- Reno, Nev.

Robinson Transport, Inc. -- Salina, Utah

State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. -- Bloomington, Ill.

Union Pacific Corporation -- Omaha, Neb.

Winner School District -- Winner, S.D.

Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, PLLC. -- Winston-Salem, N.C.

[kellynla]

ping

[mbj]

I only wish the list were longer...but I guess this way I’ll remember the names better.