When employees in the armed services return with combat-related disabilities, they get legal protection beyond what the ADA provides. What do companies have to do to help them come back to work?

All disabled employees have rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), but when a disability results from military service, employers have greater responsibilities.

Under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA), when an employee comes back from service with a disability, an employer needs to look for a reasonable way to put the employee back in his or her old job (like under the ADA).

If employees can no longer perform the essential functions of their old jobs, they must be put into a position with similar seniority, status and pay. And (unlike the ADA) if they aren’t qualified for such a job, USERRA requires that employers make a reasonable effort to “help the employee become qualified” - for example by providing training for the new job.

If there’s no reasonable way to do that, the employee can be placed in the job that is the “nearest approximation” of the old one, in terms of status and pay.

Tags: disable veterans, employees in the military, reemployment rights, USERRA