Military reservists in the workplace: A welcome return?

This is how it's supposed to work when a reservist returns to a job from military duty:

"The understanding was crystal clear: I came back to my same role," said Robert Conley, the security manager for Cox Communications Inc. and a master sergeant in the Air Force Reserve, who spent two months on military assignment earlier this year.

Cox, he said, was "very supportive. It was stress-free from my perspective."

Federal law requires employers to reinstate members of the reserves and National Guard in the same or a "comparable" job after military service, "with the same seniority, status and pay."

This is how it worked when Calvin Moore, who was the principal of Bertie High School in Windsor, N.C., returned from Iraq this year:

Moore, 44, a lieutenant colonel in the Army National Guard, said he was asked to be principal of the alternative school. He declined.

Moore said he was then told he could keep his job as principal of the county's only high school - but not perform any administrative duties.

Last month, he was moved to a job as assistant principal at Bertie's middle school. Moore said he was told it was for "economic" reasons, though he continues to draw the $62,000 salary he had as high school principal.

That, Moore said, is a "clear violation" of the law. It "dishonored and disrespected my service."

The number of mediation cases nationwide involving reservists and employers has grown 14 percent, from 2,374 in 2007 to 2,701 so far in 2010, with a month left in the federal fiscal year, according to Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve, or ESGR, a branch of the Defense Department. The percentage resolved also is up, to 81 percent, from 73 percent.

Officials at ESGR say the rise in complaints doesn't necessarily mean employers have gotten more lax about the law. The numbers could reflect the economic troubles as well as budding awareness of the mediation option.

The increase in resolutions may come from ramped-up efforts to educate businesses about their responsibilities to reservists, said Maj. Melissa Phillips, a spokeswoman for ESGR in Arlington.

Virginia has logged at least 78 mediation cases so far this year. "In Virginia, there's always been support for the military," said Thomas Stephen, a program support specialist with ESGR in Richmond. "Most of our employers have been very cooperative to our reservists."

But Moore, whose case has drawn support from the U.S. Department of Labor and the American Legion, wonders: "If you do it to me, who else is next? Injustice to one is injustice to all."

More than 1.3 million people are in the reserves and National Guard, or nearly half of the total U.S. troop strength, Phillips said.

They are required to serve in the military at least 24 days a year, usually including two weeks of training. They may be deployed for much longer stretches. Moore's most recent tour of duty lasted from December 2008 to February 2010.

Their rights as workers are spelled out in a 1994 law known as USERRA, or the Uniformed Services Employment and Re-employment Rights Act.

Members of the military must notify their employers before they leave for duty and must return to work "in a timely manner," Phillips said. In turn, "they come back to the same basic status. All their benefits get reinstated. Everything returns to as it was, as if there were no absence from work."

If other employees during that time received a raise, the reservist would get one upon his or her return.

Employers don't have to pay reservists when they're on military duty. But some local companies go beyond the demands of the law.

Northrop Grumman Corp., which estimates there are at least 80 reservists among its 19,500 Newport News employees, makes up the difference between military pay and company salary for up to 10 days a year of standard reserve duty and for the length of a deployment, spokeswoman Margaret Mitchell-Jones said.

"These employees are defending our freedom," she said in an e-mail, "and as they are doing so, they are simultaneously gaining valuable experience, which we would like them to use in building ships when they return."

Stihl Inc., the power-tool manufacturer in Virginia Beach, makes up the difference between an employee's military pay and Stihl's base pay for up to two weeks a year of reserve training, said Stan Redwood, manager of benefit services. At least 22 of Stihl's more than 1,800 workers in Virginia Beach are reservists, spokeswoman Anita Gambill said.

UrsaNav Inc., an engineering and information technology firm in Chesapeake with two reservists, pays the differential for up to one month of reserve or National Guard duty per year, said President and CEO Charles A. Schue III. It pays the full salary, on top of military pay, for up to a week's worth of one-day reserve shifts, if the employee makes up the work on off-time. "Why should I punish you for being in the reserves," Schue asked.

The departure of reservists often leaves more work for their colleagues. But "particularly because the area is so supportive of the military, employees are willing and happy to pitch in, knowing the work that they're doing," said Michele Parks, Cox's vice president of human resources in Virginia. "Their attitude is much more generous than when people are out sick."

As Mitchell-Jones said many businesses see benefits in employing reservists, despite their absences. For one, it could attract business from veteran-friendly firms, Schue said. "They could say, 'You took care of our troops when they were over there; let's buy our desks from you.' "

And the employee provides free advertising for the company. "They're out there talking to the military about what we're doing," said Bob Larned, executive director of military education for ECPI College of Technology.

When reservists think their bosses have violated their rights, they often turn to ESGR, whose goals include resolving conflicts between reservists and employers.

In the mediation process, a volunteer trained by ESGR seeks a resolution, which could be a job reinstatement or promotion, Phillips said. If the case isn't resolved, the reservist's options include contacting the U.S. Department of Labor or hiring an attorney.

When Calvin Moore contacted ESGR this year, he said the agency told him to go directly to the Labor Department. Moore has been in the reserves for 26 years. He's worked in education for 21 years, mostly as a high school science teacher and a basketball and football coach.

In June 2008, Moore was promoted to principal of Bertie High School, which has 800 students. Moore said he informed the superintendent of the school system beforehand that he would be on military duty for an extended period, starting in late 2008. He said he was told an interim principal would be named until Moore returned.

Moore was away for 14 months. Most of that time, he was stationed near Baghdad as a brigade resource manager, overseeing federal contracts.

After Moore returned to North Carolina in February, the superintendent and associate superintendent offered him other jobs, such as director of a new technology program and principal of an alternative school. He declined them. The job at the alternative school, he said, tended to go to people at the sunsets of their careers, with little possibility of advancement.

They did not criticize his performance as principal, Moore said. They said they thought he wouldn't get along with the interim principal, who would stay at the high school. But Moore said they had worked well together before he had left for duty.

In a meeting with the Bertie County Board of Education, one member asked whether he was mentally fit to return to school, Moore said. His response: "Where is your respect and honor for what we have done as service members?"

Eventually, Moore said, he was allowed to retain the title of high school principal, but without administrative duties. He visited classrooms and helped teach lessons during the remainder of the school year.

In July, he was transferred to assistant principal at Bertie's middle school. In an article in The Roanoke-Chowan News-Herald, the superintendent, Chip Zullinger, said Moore "has the ability to influence these young people at a formative age, and we think that is very beneficial."

Moore said he will serve in the job as a professional. But it could put him at a disadvantage if he applies for principal jobs. And, he said, it violates USERRA:

"The intent of the law is to return to the same status, pay, benefits and seniority. It has to be as if I never left."

A Raleigh investigator for the U.S. Department of Labor shared his assessment.

In a letter to a School Board attorney, the investigator wrote: "We find that the evidence supports Mr. Moore's allegation that he was improperly reinstated."

Last week, Moore said, he received a letter from the investigator saying his case would be referred to the U.S. Department of Justice. In fiscal 2008, the last year for which statistics are available, the Labor Department referred 100 USERRA cases to the Justice Department. Eleven led to federal suits, most of which were settled.

Zullinger was suspended from his job in July without explanation and later resigned, said Brent Todd, a school system spokesman.

Todd referred questions about Moore to Rod Malone, a School Board attorney in Raleigh. Malone said he could not discuss a personnel issue.

American Legion Post 102, of which Moore is a member, sent a letter in July to the School Board chairwoman seeking his return to the high school, along with an apology to Moore and "to all veterans who served with him."

"We are prepared to support him in any way possible," said Johnnie Farmer, the adjutant for the post who wrote the letter. "Quite a few of our members are upset he's being treated this way after he served our country. We just don't want to see anybody done wrong."

Philip Walzer, (757) 222-3864, phil.walzer@pilotonline.com