Tuesday, March 04, 2008

Job offers and the Military

My friend ran into this particular situation and we could not find any information on a result. I was curious what others thought about how people in the military are being treated. My friend was given a job offer to start work this summer for a sales company. After receiving his job offer he found out his National Guard unit was being deployed. Upon hearing this news, the company that gave him an offer took it off the table. They said because he could not begin employment as stated in the offer they could not honor it. Now there is protection if he had already started the job and then was deployed. The lack in protection is if you have not started your position yet. Personally I can not believe that people serving our country are being treated this way. There should be protection in place that when they return from service they can start work in a deferral program. I am curious to hear other people's thoughts on this issue.

7 Comments:

Blogger nschutz said...

Wow! In a way - I am surprised, but at the same time not really. Without going into the issues of the government, it just seems like there is really no protection for anyone anymore. They say you have protection, but not really. They seem to always be searching (and succeeding) in finding holes to take advantage of them.

I have a quick question. Did your friend actually sign to take the job after the offere was granted? I would think that something would be in his contract.

For someone to serve their country, they should be given some advantages for sure. For example, my aunt and uncle are both in the Air Force and seem to be given so many advantages (tax, living on base, etc).

What is strange is that the company that hired your friend knew that he could be deployed. It is on his resume that he is part of the National Guard! They know the state the country is in now. Your friend should definitely have some sort of protection even if it is the deferral program.

7:43 PM  
Blogger Ashley said...

I’m pretty sure that when an employer interviews a potential new employee that they would ask about things like the National Guard especially if it were listed on your resume. I agree that it sucks that some people in the military are getting shafted when it comes to these problems, especially since they are fighting for our freedom. But if it was just an offer and nothing was put into writing, then there wouldn’t really be an issue would it? If it was just an offer and there wasn’t acceptance you wouldn’t have a contract. Under employment-at-will either party can opt-out at anytime of a contract. With an offer though, I’m sure it’s different.
I think a deferral program would be a good idea. Maybe it might be possible for him to do some of his work while he is deployed, granted I’m sure they don’t really have time for that, but there would be that option. Should the deferral program have a time limit on it though? I mean what if the company at first really didn’t need someone and they hired the Kyle’s friend for a future position because they knew he was being deployed. Later on though, when they still haven’t returned and the company really needs to find someone what should they do? Hire another person and tell Kyle’s friend see you later…don’t let the door hit you on the butt on the way out, when he comes back from serving his time? Or what if Kyle’s friend comes back and starts work then quits because the job wasn’t what he expected, he was on a deferral program for six or seven months then quits within two weeks or so…does that seem fair to either party?

11:42 AM  
Blogger Professor Prenkert said...

On the facts you describe, I'm almost certain that the employer has violated the anti-discrimination provisions of the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Act (USERRA).

Heather is doing her research project on this topic, I wonder if she'd like to pipe in?!?

1:43 PM  
Blogger Professor Prenkert said...

Oops. It's not Heather, it's Robin who is doing her research project on this topic. I wonder if Robin wants to pipe in!?!

Sorry Heather!

1:44 PM  
Blogger Nosh said...

This comment has been removed by the author.

1:58 PM  
Blogger Nosh said...

This comment has been removed by the author.

2:12 PM  
Blogger Nosh said...

I deleted my last two comments because I felt the need to add:

It seems as though this is unfair to the individual who was hired. As per Professor Prenkert's comment:

http://www.osc.gov/userra.htm

It seems as though the employer has violated the discrimination rights and the individual terminated should indeed be given his Job when returned from service.

The counter argument that could be made, however, is whether or not it was stated in the contract that they could be terminated at any time. Provided your friend can prove that they took the offer off of the table because of his service to the country, he could file a complaint.

The link below reconciles veterans with service-connected disabilities under the ADA. (may be a little skewed from topic, though)

http://www.eeoc.gov/facts/veterans-
disabilities-employers.html


Would someone like to fill in any missing comments?

2:16 PM  

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