| Letter Factory Employer Letters for AFRC and ANGReason: Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) | 
| Key Points to Writing - Remember, there the purpose for the letter.
- Use the right words, utilize a resource like Merriam-Webster Online.
- Use a spell checker (F7 Word) and avoid common misspellings
- Watch Tense Shifts, going from "s" to "ed"
- Keep the text simple
- Avoid acronyms and jargon, the people reading the letter are not familiar with it.
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The following Example was taken from a Word document. If you have anything you would like to submit, please do so. If you have found this information useful, please let me know as each letter has taken a considerable amount of time to prepare.  
Copy Directly on to Unit Letter Head! DATE
[Rank] [First] [Last]
[Unit name]
[Street Address]
[City], [State] [Zip]
[Employer]
[Street Address]
[City], [State] [Zip]
Dear [Employer]:
As the commander of a [unit] [soldier/sailor/airman/marine], I would like to personally thank you for your efforts in support of the [service] program. As you know, in recent history National Guard and Reserve units and personnel have been activated several times, for war, peace keeping, nation building, and state-side relief operations. The reserve forces account for about half of our total military forces. Weekend drill and annual training are absolutely essential to maintain those military skills that Reservists need to be able to accomplish their assigned mission.
The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) is a Federal statute and as such affects all Guard members, Reservists and their employers. This statute, found at Title 38, United States Code Sections 4301-33, was designed to minimize employment problems that can result from Reserve military service.
To qualify for reemployment rights under USERRA, reserve soldiers must meet five basic conditions:
- Hold a civilian job (including most “temporary” jobs).
- Give reasonable prior notice of military duty to the employer.
- Not exceed five years of cumulative active duty military service with the employer.
- Be released from active military duty under honorable conditions.
- Report back to the civilian job in a timely manner upon making timely request for
reemployment.
Voluntary military service, peacetime or wartime, is fully covered under the USERRA. Employers are entitled to receive prior notice, either verbal or written, from their Reserve employees or their employee’s military commander of pending military duty, and must in return, grant their employee’s request for absence, without exception. You cannot condition permission to leave for military duty upon Reservist presentation of written military orders. I have advised my soldiers to give their employers as much forewarning as possible. In rare cases when call-up is short notice, such as an emergency mission, prior employer notice will not be required, as it may be “unreasonable or impossible.” Employers may not require Reserve soldiers to use vacation pay or time saved to conduct their military duty assignments.
After periods of training or service for less than 30 days, soldiers must report back to work at the beginning of the first regularly scheduled work period on the first calendar day after completion of service. However, USERRA allows travel time for safe transportation home and eight hours of rest before returning to work. Additionally, a Reservist who has incurred a period of service from 31-181 days must apply for reinstatement within 14 days of release from active duty. For a service member who has incurred a period of active duty in excess of 181 days he or she must apply for reinstatement within 90 days. Please be advised that you, as their employer, are expected to promptly reinstate the Reserve employee. Additionally, you must provide them with the same seniority and status on the job they would have received if they had never left, training or retraining if necessary, and special protection against discharge, except for cause, for periods of active duty in excess of 30 days.
Your continued support and cooperation are greatly appreciated, and are vital to the continued adequate defense of this nation by our military forces. I have enclosed a copy of our [year] training dates for you. I have included the tentative dates that your employee is expected to report for Annual Training. It is my hope that by providing this notice of scheduled military training for your employee that scheduling problems can be avoided. If there are any major changes in this schedule, your employee, myself, or a designated representative of this command will notify you.
As a Reserve member myself, I can understand that Reserve military duty commitments may cause an undue hardship for your business. In these cases, I am prepared to work with you or your representative to resolve such problems whenever possible. Please notify us as soon as possible of any potential scheduling conflicts. If you have any other questions about the [service], or USERRA, please feel free to contact me or the National Committee for Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (NCESGR), toll-free at 1-800-336-4590.
Sincerely,
[FIRST M.. LAST], [Rank], USAFR
Reminder, Signature lines are 5 spaces below the last line of text. Comments: All text in blue will need to be modified. |
