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Even with the Iraq war over, almost 220,000 military reservists and National Guard members remained on active duty as the end of May, 2003. And since September 11, Guard and military-reserve utilization has increased 1,300%, according to the Defense Dept. The U.S. hasn't experienced a deployment of this magnitude since World War II.
These matters raise daunting issues for businesses, since citizen-soldiers represents 46% of the U.S. Army's manpower. What should companies do to provide families of service members with assistance? How should health and retirement benefits for returning service people be protected? What about preserving their opportunities for career advancement? What must be done to effectively reintegrate soldiers into civilian life and help them settle back into their old jobs?
Laws such as the Uniformed Services Employment & Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA) and the Soldiers' & Sailors' Civil Relief Act of 1940 govern all public and private employers on matters of military leave and reemployment. I spoke with Mark Ronald, president and chief executive officer of BAE Systems North America (BAE ), and Walt Havenstein, president of Information & Electronic Warfare Systems (IEWS), a New Hampshire-based BAE business unit, about reintegrating returning active-duty military into the civilian workforce.
Why BAE? Havenstein's IEWS program recently won the Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award for its policies toward Guard and reserve employees. BAE employs has more than 25,000 employees, who provide information systems, electronics, avionics, communications, and systems-engineering products to both government and commercial customers. IEWS is a defense-electronics contractor with 5,400 employees. The unit accounted for a third of BAE's nearly $4.5 billion in revenues for 2002. IEWS has 61 employees in the Guard and reserves, 10 of whom are on active duty. Since September 11, 24 employees have been called to active duty, including one who will be deployed through 2005. Here are edited excerpts from a phone conversation between BW contributing correspondent David Liss and BAE's Ronald and IEWS's Havenstein:
Q: How do you define what successful reintegration into the workforce means for returning soldiers? Ronald: We're more sensitive to soldiers and their needs than many other companies are. A great number of our employees have served in active military duty in the course of their career. They should be no worse off for their sacrifice. Our philosophy is that we'll respect the sacrifices made and do no harm to them professionally.
Havenstein: The key to successful reassimilation of soldiers from active duty comes from a company understanding the role of the reservist and Guardsman, both in their military and employee roles, before they leave for active duty. We try to do everything that we can to make sure that the needs of the family aren't a concern for soldiers while they're away. Our objective has been to provide for family members the same infrastructure and support structure as when the family member was a full-time employee.
Successful resolution of issues associated with this situation comes from several critical considerations. All employees must know what the policy is, so that no one is surprised when Guard members and reserve are called in to active duty -- and all employees understand that the returning soldier will go back to their jobs. We set the expectation for our employees that these circumstances are temporary. I understand that these kinds of accommodations will be harder for smaller operations.
When an employee returns, our responsibility as an employer is similar in many ways to issues we would face with any new employee. We have to make that person feel welcome. It's the employer's responsibility to place returning soldiers back in the same jobs that they had before they left for active duty and to make sure that these people aren't penalized in terms of salary and promotion. Also, good-faith commitments should be made to the employee that the company will fully cover the employee's salary and benefits up to a minimum of one year. We will consider extending the practice beyond one year on an as-needed basis.
Q: How did you determine your policies? Havenstein: Policies begin with whatever values the leader brings to the table. I served 16½ years in the reserves and 12 years active duty with the Marine Corps. As a company, our objective is to exceed compliance standards with USERRA, to go above and beyond the basic requirements.
For example, there is no requirement to make up the difference to Guard and reserve employees between their company and their active-duty salaries. But we do that. All that's required is that we don't discriminate against employees...in consideration of pay and position [when they return]. The law only says that we have to reemploy at a job, provided that the job exists. But our policies extend to providing this pay differential and an [additional] stipend to employees should their spouse be called to active military duty. We also afford continued access to medical, dental, and life benefits for active-duty employees.
Our business unit's motto is "We protect those that protect us." When you think of that as the fundamental reason that people work here, then it's only natural that people will have an affinity for our own reserve and Guard members.
Ronald: It's my responsibility to give people what they need to do their job and not to constrain them. My responsibility is to put the right people in the job, and to make sure I get feedback regarding their performance.
Copyright 2003, by The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. All rights reserved.
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