Heads up: Bosses can be held personally liable for bias against service members

You might be surprised to learn that supervisors can be held personally liable for violations of the federal law that outlaws bias against workers who serve in the military.

In addition, there’s no statute of limitations for lawsuits pursued under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA).

Bottom line: You could be held individually liable – and forced to pay damages – for violations of USERRA that happened years ago.

To avoid personal liability, it’s important to understand your legal obligations under USERRA.

When a member of your crew advises you that he or she will be absent for military service, you have to allow the worker to take the time off without fear of reprisal.

Even if the loss of the individual could wreak havoc with your staffing needs, make sure you respond positively to the person’s request and never ask how the job will get done while he or she is out.

You also have to ensure that the worker returns to his or her former job after the military duty, even if someone else has been handling those duties while the individual was out.

If the returning service member would’ve otherwise been promoted while he or she was gone, you have to assign the person to the job that he or she would’ve been promoted to when the individual gets back. Plus, you have to train the returning service member in the skills needed to handle the promotion.

And the service member must continue to accrue seniority and benefits even while on military duty.

Remember too that disciplinary actions taken against the worker upon his or her return from military duty will face increased scrutiny – the law says that for up to one year after he or she gets back from military duty, a service member can only be fired for just cause.

(From the June 28, 2024, issue of HR Manager’s Legal Alert for Supervisors. To start your no-obligation trial subscription to the publication right now, please click here.)