HR0096 LRB095 06754 DRJ 27672 r

1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, In the last 5 years, according to a United States
3 Department of Labor report presented to Congress in 2005, 5,690
4 veterans have lost their jobs in both the private and the
5 public employment sectors while activated to serve a tour of
6 duty; those numbers are expected to increase because, of the
7 300,000 deployed reservists, as many as 25,000 veterans were
8 expected to return home in 2005 to reintegrate themselves back
9 into civilian life after a tour of duty in the global war
10 against terrorism; and
 
11     WHEREAS, Employment discrimination against veterans based
12 on the extended lengths of time for which they have been
13 deployed has been reported in Illinois as well as throughout
14 the United States; and
 
15     WHEREAS, Incidents of discrimination have included loss of
16 yearly pay raises, loss of position within the workplace, and
17 loss of employment altogether; and
 
18     WHEREAS, Federal law already prohibits the loss of status
19 or position for returning members of the military under the
20 Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act
21 (USERRA); the Act protects service members' reemployment
22 rights when they return from a period of service in the

 

 

HR0096 - 2 - LRB095 06754 DRJ 27672 r

1 uniformed services, including the rights of those who are
2 called up from the reserves or the National Guard, and
3 prohibits discrimination by employers based on military
4 service or obligation; the Act is administered by the United
5 States Department of Labor's Veterans' Employment and Training
6 Service; therefore, be it
 
7     RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
8 NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
9 urge the Illinois Department of Veterans' Affairs (i) to inform
10 employers of members of the armed forces who are called to
11 active duty of the employment rights of those service members
12 as veterans upon their return from active duty and (ii) to
13 inform those employers of the consequences of not following the
14 law in regard to the employment rights of returning veterans.