Military Personnel: Federal Management of Servicemember Employment Rights Can Be Further Improved

In its periodic status of forces surveys, DOD is including questions to determine the extent to which servicemembers are experiencing USERRA-related problems. Specifically, these questions were included in five Status of Forces Surveys that have been conducted since our report was issued in 2006. As a result, DOD has been able to quantify the complaint levels over time as conditions change (the economic climate, pace of operations, level of patriotism, or support for operations.

In its periodic status of forces surveys, DOD is including questions to determine from whom servicemembers seek assistance if they are experiencing USERRA-related problems. Specifically, DOD asked questions about servicemember assistance in five Status of Forces Surveys that have been conducted since our report was issued in 2006. As a result, DOD has been able to gauge the level of support that its ombudsmen are providing relative to other agencies. For example, the responses to one survey showed that 9 percent of servicemembers required DOD assistance (through the Employer Support to the Guard and Reserve ombudsmen) while only 1 percent required Department of Labor assistance.

In its periodic status of forces surveys, DOD has included questions to determine why servicemembers do not request assistance when they have USERRA-related problems. Specifically, DOD asked this question in three Status of Forces Surveys that have been conducted since our report was issued in 2006.

In its periodic status of forces surveys, DOD has included questions to determine the extent to which employers are providing support above that which is required under the USERRA law. Specifically, DOD asked this question in two of the Status of Forces Surveys that have been conducted since our report was issued in 2006.

In our report we noted that although DOD had a policy in place to require reserve component members to supply information about their civilian employers many reservists had not complied with the policy. Our report noted that compliance rates for members of the Selected Reserve (those who drill on a regular basis) ranged between 66 percent from the Army and Marine Corps Reserves to 83 percent for the Air Force Reserve. After our report was issued, DOD developed standardized reports that identify civilian employers and the numbers of Guard and Reserve members who work for each employer. In addition, the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs began to weekly track compliance with the existing policy. Selected Reserve compliance with the reporting requirements have climbed to over 90 percent, and the Army Reserve has reached 95 percent. Because of the constant flow of personnel into and out of the force a 100 percent compliance rate is likely unachievable but DOD has taken the necessary steps to fully comply with the intent of our recommendation.

DOD has developed standardized Civilian Employment Information reports that identify the numbers of Guard and Reserve members who work for each employer and DOD has established points of contact at the Department of Labor and the Office of Special Counsel to receive the shared information. DOD and DOL have also developed the capability to transfer data between their systems and information concerning individual cases can now be shared between the two departments.

Our report referred to DOD's ombudsmen's actions as addressing "informal complaints" and the actions of the Departments of Labor and Justice and the Office of Special Counsel as addressing formal complaints. In responding to our report, DOD distinguished the actions its ombudsmen take in response to what it calls "inquiries", from the formal complaint processing at the Departments of Labor and Justice and the Office of Special Counsel, which can result in legal action. As a result, DOD deferred action on this recommendation to the Departments of Labor and Justice and to the Office of Special Counsel. Despite making this distinction, DOD has worked with the Department of Labor and the Department of Labor is now able to electronically receive informal complaint/inquiry information from DOD. Since all of the DOD inquiries/informal complaints that reach the Departments of Justice and the Office of Special Counsel must flow through the Department of Labor, there was not a need for DOD to coordinate with the other two agencies to electronically transfer information. The electronic sharing of information among the other 3 agencies--the Departments of Labor and Justice and the Office of Special Counsel--is addressed in other recommendations.

Following the issuance of our report, in FY 2007, the Department of Labor's (DOL) Veterans' Employment and Training Service (VETS) implemented shared access to its USERRA electronic case and data management system. The enhanced USERRA Information Management System (UIMS) allows VETS' USERRA federal partners (the Department of Labor Solicitors Office (SOL), the Office of Special Counsel (OSC), the Department of Justice (DOJ), and DOD's Employer Support to Guard and Reserve office (ESGR)) to access the system, allowing all four agencies to obtain aggregate data and access pertinent case information. Currently VETS, SOL, DOJ, and OSC use the UIMS to report USERRA case activities. ESGR ombudsmen seek to resolve servicemember concerns before they become cases and ombudsmen case information can be electronically sent to DOL.

Following the issuance of our report, in FY 2007, the Department of Labor's (DOL) Veterans' Employment and Training Service (VETS) implemented shared access to its USERRA electronic case and data management system. The enhanced USERRA Information Management System (UIMS) allows VETS' USERRA federal partners (the Department of Labor Solicitors Office (SOL), the Office of Special Counsel (OSC), the Department of Justice (DOJ), and DOD's Employer Support to Guard and Reserve office (ESGR)) to access the system, allowing all four agencies to obtain aggregate data and access pertinent case information. Currently VETS, SOL, DOJ, and OSC use the UIMS to report USERRA case activities. ESGR ombudsmen seek to resolve servicemember concerns before they become cases and ombudsmen case information can be electronically sent to DOL.

Following the issuance of our report, in FY 2007, the Department of Labor's (DOL) Veterans' Employment and Training Service (VETS) implemented shared access to its USERRA electronic case and data management system. The enhanced USERRA Information Management System (UIMS) allows VETS' USERRA federal partners (the Department of Labor Solicitors Office (SOL), the Office of Special Counsel (OSC), the Department of Justice (DOJ), and DOD's Employer Support to Guard and Reserve office (ESGR)) to access the system, allowing all four agencies to obtain aggregate data and access pertinent case information. Currently VETS, SOL, DOJ, and OSC use the UIMS to report USERRA case activities. ESGR ombudsmen seek to resolve servicemember concerns before they become cases and ombudsmen case information can be electronically sent to DOL.

In its official written comments to our report, the Department of Labor agreed with our recommendations that its Veterans' Employment and Training Service (VETS) should reduce agency reliance on paper files and fully adopt the agency's automated complaint file system. The Assistant Secretary for VETS stated that "given the advanced capabilities for electronic storage and transmission of documents we envision a system in which VETS investigators create and store investigative and other records and documents electronically, and that the Solicitor's office has the ability to immediately access those records. Due regard would of course be given to preserving privacy rights, and assuring that documentary evidence needed for trial would be preserved in a form consistent with the evidentiary requirements of the Federal courts and the Merit Systems Protection Board." Since our report was issued, DOL has made several enhancements to its electronic records systems. Electronic information can now be shared between the Department of Labor and all the other federal agencies who have USERRA-related roles. In response to our report, VETS also updated its electronic case files to assign unique case numbers that eliminate the duplicative counting that was identified in our report. In 2008, VETS implemented a new electronic USERRA Operations Manual. This manual allows investigators to toggle from instructions to the corresponding section of the law or the appropriate regulation, and also provides templates for many of the important communications that occur routinely in the course of an investigation. Because the templates are electronic, investigators are able to customize them to address the unique circumstances of a particular investigation, yet still retain the uniformity of the investigation process. VETS also successfully tested a program for auditing case files in 2 regions and have plans to audit all six regions. Finally, to safeguard the privacy of USERRA claimants, VETS moved its USERRA investigative database out of a secure contractor facility to its current location in the Department of Labor, behind the DOL firewall.