When Duty Calls
The National Committee for Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve helps businesses back up our troops.
By Kris Ann Hegle

The phone is ringing. It's a reservist who has just returned home after being deployed for six months. She wants to know about her reemployment rights as she prepares to return to her civilian job.

A few seconds later, the phone rings again. This time it's a small-business owner. One of his employees, a National Guard member, has just been mobilized. The employer wants to know what benefits he must provide the guardmember while he's deployed.

These are just some of the many calls the National Committee for Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR) in Arlington, Va., has received recently. Congress established ESGR, an agency within the office of the assistant secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs, in 1972 to promote understanding, support, and cooperation between National Guard and Reserve members and their civilian employers.

Only 35 full-time employees work at ESGR's national office, but they receive support from more than 4,100 volunteers in 54 committees located in each state, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. When national headquarters receives a call, it is referred to the appropriate state committee, which has a chairperson, several ombudsmen, and a variety of other volunteers who work to fulfill the ESGR's mission at the local level.

ESGR after 9/11

ESGR shifted into high gear following the terrorist attack of Sept. 11, 2001. Shortly after President George W. Bush mobilized the Ready Reserves to active duty, ESGR was inundated with phone calls from both employers and Guard and Reserve members who needed assistance and information.

Even before Sept. 11, however, ESGR was working hard to foster employer support for the 1.3 million members of the Guard and Reserve. Today, reserve components account for approximately 47 percent of our total armed forces, according to the Department of Defense (DoD).

"If it wasn't for the Guard and Reserve, we couldn't defend the skies of our country," says Bob Hollingsworth, executive director for ESGR and a retired Marine Corps Reserve major general. "We couldn't provide security at our airports. ... It would be impossible for [DoD] to do that because over the past 10 years, we've had a 40 percent reduction in the active component strength. We've had a 29 percent reduction in the end strength of the reserve components, and there's been a tenfold increase in the requirements of the Guard and Reserve."

Some military skills are found only in reserve components. Other guardmembers and reservists, such as medical professionals, for example, possess highly sought-after skills that result in them being called up more often.

In addition, some military occupational specialties require guardmembers and reservists to maintain a high level of proficiency, which can be obtained only through additional training and class work. As a result, Guard and Reserve members are spending more time away from the workplace.

Lt. Cmdr. Mark Shelley, USNR, project officer and national ombudsman for ESGR, has experienced many of these changes firsthand. From 1980 to 1990, Shelley spent only one weekend a month and two weeks a summer with his reserve unit, which he says is "how the old reserves worked." In the 1990s, however, he saw the military's reliance on the reserves increase.

"For every hour we worked in 1988, we're working 13 hours now," says Shelley. "The reserves are doing 13 times as much as they [did] in 1988. That's just with the work that's stateside to backfill for the active forces. That's not Desert Storm. That's not peacekeeping. That's not Kosovo or Bosnia."

These changes have not gone unnoticed by employers either. According to Shelley, ESGR fields a number of calls from employers who say it's gotten harder for them to meet their manpower needs because they employ members of the Guard and Reserve. The situation also presents difficulties for guardmembers and reservists who are trying to advance both their military and civilian careers.

"It can be very difficult, depending on the level of your involvement," says Maj. Reese Rogers, USMCR, who is currently on a six-month assignment at Marine Corps Base Hawaii. "If you're in the reconnaissance community or you work in aviation, you have a certain level of proficiency to maintain. There are not two standards. Everybody has to maintain the same standard whether they're active duty or reserve."

Finding balance

Congress passed the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (userra) in 1994 to resolve such issues. This federal law protects Guard and Reserve members from discrimination or retaliation because of their military service and provides them with job protection and reinstatement rights. The law also gives employers some rights and spells out what benefits they must maintain after an employee is called to active duty.

Many of the calls received at ESGR's headquarters pertain to employees' or employers' rights and responsibilities under userra. These calls are routed to the appropriate state committee member, who oftentimes is a state ombudsman.

Each of ESGR's volunteer ombudsmen receives training from ESGR's national staff, as well as mediation training. To learn the ins and outs of userra, ombudsmen also attend a class at the National Veterans' Training Institute at the University of Colorado in Denver.

If an ESGR ombudsman can't resolve the issue or finds it falls beyond the scope of informal resolution, the issue is referred to the Veterans' Employment and Training Service, an agency within the U.S. Department of Labor (DoL). DoL processes all formal complaints about violations of the law.

Fortunately, ESGR is able to handle most issues before they become formal complaints, which could wind up in court. This helps DoL, which lacks the resources to mediate disputes quickly. Resolving disputes quickly and providing answers has helped ESGR foster better relationships between employers and guardmembers and reservists.

"Roughly half the calls we get are for general information," says Shelley. "In solving 90 [percent] to 95 percent of these cases, the bottom line is not the userra law - the bottom line is basic human communication."

This was the case at Progressive Horizons Inc. in Baltimore, according to Fred Samuelson, an ESGR volunteer ombudsman in Maryland. Samuelson received a call from a reservist, a Progressive employee, who felt her manager treated her unfairly when she took the weekend off to train with her unit. Samuelson contacted Natalie Lehman, Progressive's director of foster care, who then spoke with the employee-reservist and manager and discovered a breakdown in communication.

The reservist said she had given the manager her drill schedule. Her manager said he never received it, and when the employee-reservist failed to report to work one weekend, tensions escalated. With Samuelson's help, the matter was resolved to everyone's satisfaction.

"I'm glad [a resource] like this is in place, because I never would have wanted anyone to think that our organization wouldn't support our members of the military and reservists," says Lehman. "I'm glad someone was there to intervene and to speak with directly - someone in charge so we could get the matter resolved as quickly as possible."

Going the extra mile

Following the terrorist attack on Sept. 11, many employers have chosen to demonstrate their patriotism by helping their employees who have been called to active duty. Some are matching salaries or continuing salaries if the employee's military salary is significantly less. Others have agreed to extend their employees' life and health insurance coverage.

The climate at universities around the country also has changed. During Desert Storm, many universities refused to give reservists credit or refund their tuition, even if they had been called up only one or two weeks into the semester. Now, more universities are refunding the tuition of Guard and Reserve members, and some have forgiven courses toward a degree.

Even the federal government, one of the largest employers of guardmembers and reservists, is examining its policies. In January 2002, legislation was introduced in the House and Senate that would require the federal government to pay the difference between the civilian and military pay of reservist employees who are mobilized to support contingency operations.

Most small businesses, however, can't afford to make up pay shortfalls or extend benefits to employees called to active duty. Some of these employers have found other ways to show their support, with the help of ESGR.

Maj. Gen. Melvin Thrash, usa-Ret., who chairs ESGR's Arkansas committee, took one guardmember's concern over his job and turned it into an opportunity for his employer to show support. 1st Lt. Keith Wilson, who also is a sergeant with the police department in Sherwood, Ark., is on active duty with the Arkansas Army National Guard's 2nd Battalion, 153rd Infantry of the 39th Separate Infantry Brigade, and is stationed along the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt. While on deployment, Wilson learned he was eligible to take the test to move from sergeant to lieutenant on the town's police force.

According to Sherwood's mayor, Bill Harmon, members of the police department compete for promotions by taking a written test and completing an oral interview. Wilson lobbied to take the test while in the Sinai, but the folks back in Sherwood didn't cotton to the idea. Thrash was contacted, and with his help, the two parties reached an agreement that allowed Wilson to maintain his eligibility so he could take the test when he returned.

"Keith is an outstanding sergeant and policeman," says Harmon. "We assured Keith that when he came back he could take the test."

Sherwood, a small town located just outside Little Rock, has been hard-hit by the mobilization of Guard and Reserve members. In recent months, seven officers from the town's 68-member police force have been called to active duty. It's almost impossible for a police department to find and hire temporary help, so members of the department are supporting their coworkers by filling in the gaps.

"They're doing double duties and swapping duties around, and the supervisors are doing patrol duty when they need to," adds Harmon. "It's working really well. The policemen who didn't go are covering for those who did, and their jobs will be here when they get back."

	GET MORE WITH TROA
	For information about services for guardmembers and reservists, visit TROA's Web Base, www.troa.org/NationalGuard. For a free copy of TROA's publication Reserve/National Guard Retirement Benefits, tear off and mail in the card at right, order online at www.troa.org/Booklets, or call toll-free (800) 245-8762.

ESGR on the attack

ESGR is working with employers and members of the Guard and Reserve to prevent problems before they occur. The organization is encouraging guardmembers and reservists to register their employers in a national employer database hosted by the Defense Management Data Center, which can be accessed through ESGR's Web site (get there via troa's links page, www.troa.org/magazine/links .asp). Reserve force planners will use this information to reduce the impact of call-ups on employers and educate them about the importance of a strong Guard and Reserve.

ESGR also is working to improve communication between military leaders and employers. For the past few years, ESGR has hosted airline symposia that bring together military leaders and executives from every major commercial airline. ESGR plans to use the knowledge gained to develop a process that can be applied to other large companies that employ Guard and Reserve members so these businesses can effectively handle problems that arise from within.

In San Diego in May 2001, ESGR held its National Leadership Conference, which brought together members of the national staff and state committees as well as military leaders and top-level executives from every sector of private and public industry. Leaders from Australia, Great Britain, and Canada also attended the conference and shared information about how their countries handle problems between employers and citizen soldiers.

In addition to these activities, ESGR sponsors several programs that recognize employers who support a strong Guard and Reserve. These programs honor employers that go beyond what's legally required when granting leave for military duty or that enact personnel policies that foster participation in the Guard and Reserve.

"Bosslifts" and "Briefings with the Boss" help increase communication between civilian employers and unit commanders and allow employers to learn more about the important work being done by their employees who serve in the Guard and Reserve. Another program, Mission One, helps educate employers, guardmembers, and reservists about userra and the many resources available to them through ESGR.

Blueprint for the future

ESGR is coming up with new ways to meet its mission of promoting employer support for the Guard and Reserve. Recently, ESGR opened an office in Germany, which is home to an estimated 1,000 reservists. This office will bring a whole new set of challenges to ESGR's staff because German companies have no legal obligation to support American employees who participate in the Guard and Reserve. ESGR staff members and volunteers also are stepping up activities on the home front. ESGR is riding the wave of patriotism that's sweeping across the country, and it's enlisting support from more and more employers, many of whom sign "Statements of Support" for the Guard and Reserve (see page 51).

ESGR also is continuing to tout the many benefits associated with hiring a member of the Guard or Reserve. Many guardmembers and reservists receive specialized training from the military that they use on the job. Military service also gives employees an opportunity to hone their leadership skills and instill a sense of discipline.

In addition to these benefits, employers may receive a tax credit for hiring Guard or Reserve members if a bill currently pending on Capitol Hill is passed. The bill would give businesses a tax credit equal to half of a lost worker's value, measured by what his or her salary would have been for the period of the call-up.

"We want to be proactive," says Hollingsworth. "We want to be out there in the community, talking to the employers and letting them know that they are indeed an important link when it comes to protecting and defending our nation."