January 12, 2005 | Posted By Diane Pfadenhauer | print this article

USERRA Amendments

For those of you who were diligently doing your holiday shopping and missed the changes to USERRA, there are some changes worthy of note.  Specifically, the Uniform Services Employment and Re-Employment Rights Act of 1994 has been amended by the Veterans Benefit Improvement Act of 2004 ("VBIA") effective December 10, 2004.  The new law  provides for three major changes:

  1. The law requires that employers provide for elective continuation of employer-sponsored health coverage, similar to COBRA, for service members who would otherwise lose their coverage because of an absence due to service in the military.  The VBIA extends this period from 18 to 24 months.
  2. VBIA now requires employers to provide notice of USERRA rights.  The Department of Labor is required to provide a notice for employers and this posting requirement will go into effect March 10, 2005.
  3. Sometime this year, new regulations will be issued for this law.

For more information on the VBIA, go here.  For more information on USERRA, go here.