AMVETS Supports Obama Administration New Initiatives to Get Veterans Back to Work

Today at the White House, AMVETS National Commander Gary Fry and Executive Director Stewart Hickey along with other veterans service organization leaders, joined President Obama as he announced his support for the Returning Heroes and Wounded Warrior Tax Credits - two provisions in the American Jobs Act Congress is scheduled to consider this week. The Returning Heroes Tax Credit provides firms that hire unemployed veterans with a maximum credit of $5,600 per veteran, while the Wounded Warriors Tax Credit offers firms that hire veterans with service-connected disabilities a maximum credit of $9,600 per veteran.

The President also announced a series of executive actions that will provide new resources for veterans to translate military experience to the private sector job market, give veterans additional career development support, and better identify companies looking to hire veterans. These initiatives include:

Veteran Gold Card: Effective today, post-9/11 veterans will be able to visit dol.gov/vets/goldcard.html to download the Veteran Gold Card, which entitles them to enhanced services including six months of personalized case management, assessments and counseling, at the roughly 3,000 One-Stop Career Centers located across the country. This should help serve the more than 200,000 unemployed post-9/11 veterans. The President directed the Department of Labor to launch this initiative in his August 4, 2011 speech at the Navy Yard.

My Next Move for Veterans: The Department of Labor will launch My Next Move for Veterans (mynextmove.org/vets), a new online resource that allows veterans to enter their military occupation code and discover civilian occupations for which they are well qualified. The site will also include information about salaries, apprenticeships, and other related education and training programs.

Creating a Veterans Job Bank: Today, the Administration launched the Veterans Jobs Bank, at National Resource Directory (NRD.gov), an easy to use tool to help veterans find job postings from companies looking to hire them. It already searches over 500,000 job postings and continues to grow. Additionally, in a few easy steps, companies looking to hire veterans can make sure the job postings on their own Web sites are part of this Veterans Jobs Bank.

These initiatives could not have come at a more critical time. Troops are returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan only to face an intimidating national unemployment rate of 9 percent, and 12.1 percent unemployment rate for Iraq- and Afghanistan-era veterans who left active duty since 2001. Assistance is crucial, and together, these initiatives and tax credits will lower veteran unemployment by increasing hiring, improving resources for veterans to translate their military skills for the civilian workforce, and providing veterans with new tools to aid their search for jobs.

“AMVETS urges Congress to pass this legislation so that our Warriors will have one less war to fight when they make the inevitable transition from warfighter to civilian employee, be it now, or sometime in the future,” said AMVETS National Commander Gary L. Fry, who attended the White House briefing Monday morning.

In October, AMVETS, with support from Activision Blizzard Entertainment Call of Duty Endowment, expanded its own Career Center program consisting of more than 60 centers in Ohio, adding eight new locations in new states nationwide, including California, Iowa, Maryland, New Jersey, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania. Additional sites are under consideration for late 2011 and early 2012.

VETERANS RETURN HOME TO FIND TOUGH LUCK ON THE JOB FRONT

Many remain unemployed or are denied promotions and raises because of commitment to country

NOV 2, 2011 – WASHINGTON D.C. – Working under the most unfavorable conditions while serving their country overseas, service members are returning home and receiving an even more unfavorable slap in the face on the job front. The U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) reported that in 2010, Uniformed Services Employment Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) cases have risen by 89 percent (533 cases in 2008, 1012 cases in 2010) in two years. USERRA protects individuals who, voluntary or involuntary, leave their civilian job and perform military duties as long as they meet certain criteria.

“What these statistics are saying is that employers are not committed to anyone who commits to their country,” said Greg T. Rinckey, former Army JAG Attorney and managing partner at Tully Rinckey PLLC, a multistate employment law and military law firm.

According to the Government Accountability Office (GAO) their latest statistics show that from late 2008 to 2009 the longest USERRA investigation lasted 357 days, far exceeding the 90 day cut-off. After analysis of Department of Labor data, the GAO also reports that 13 percent of USERRA complaints investigated during that time failed to meet deadline.

“Even though the federal government provides free legal representation it’s the same federal government that is breaking all the rules by letting these cases linger around. Law mandates that they complete an USERRA investigation in 90 days but many are taking longer than that. Service members are finding that they need a private attorney because they push the case through faster and are fighting for the service member using other legal theories and remedies that free federal government representation isn’t even looking at,” said Mr. Rinckey.

The unemployment rate for Americans who have served in the military since September 2001 is 11.5 percent, compared to 9.4 percent for non-veterans, according to 2011 U.S. Bureau of Labor statistics.

“There are strict laws against this type of discrimination from federal employers. The only way to really hold their feet to the fire and ensure that all practices are being followed correctly is to score victories in these USERRA cases. When USERRA wins rise, USERRA complaints will fall because it will be then that these agencies get the message,” said Mr. Rinckey.

2nd Annual Wounded Warrior Hiring and Support Conference in Vienna, Va. Nov. 9 - 10

Department of the Navy is announcing the 2nd Annual Wounded Warrior Hiring and Support Conference being held in Vienna, Va. Nov. 9 - 10, 2011.

The theme of this year’s conference is "Hiring our Nation's Heroes" and aims to convene prominent government, military, and industry leaders and their human resource professionals who are committed to hiring and supporting wounded warriors. Conference attendees will have the unique opportunity to learn best practices from many successful organizations on how to recruit, hire, train and retain wounded warriors.

In addition to the 25 break-out sessions and exhibitors offering tools and resources on how to hire and support wounded warriors, there will be a distinguished line-up of guest speakers including senior leadership in the federal government, private industry, wounded warrior care agencies, and hiring programs. Some of the confirmed speakers include:

- Hon. Ray Mabus, Secretary of the Navy
- Gen. James Amos, USMC, Commandant of the Marine Corps
- Gen. Peter Chiarelli, USA, Vice Chief of Staff of the Army
- Mr. John Campbell, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, Wounded Warrior Care and Transition Policy
- Mrs. Holly Petraeus, Assistant Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Office of Servicemember Affairs

This year’s conference will be held at the Sheraton Premiere at Tyson’s Corner, 8661 Leesburg Pike, Vienna, Va., and is free for registered participants. For more information on the conference, schedule and speakers, please go to the registration website at http://www.public.navy.mil/donaa/Pages/woundedwarrior.aspx.