Service Member Reemployment Rights: Enhanced Education and Additional Training Could Improve Investigations

Summary

What GAO Found The Department of Labor's (DOL) Veterans' Employment and Training Service (VETS) closed 5,433 Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) complaints from fiscal year 2021 through fiscal year 2025, according to GAO’s analysis of USERRA complaint data. The number of complaints increased each year, reaching its highest level in fiscal year 2025 (1,380 complaints), the same year VETS experienced a 23 percent reduction in its complaint investigation staffing levels. During this period, VETS closed USERRA complaints within 90 days on average, the general time frame specified in statute. Most complaints were closed for administrative reasons, including a service member choosing not to pursue the complaint, or were not substantiated by the evidence. Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) Complaints by Closure Types, Fiscal Years 2021–2025 VETS investigations staff expressed concern about the amount of time spent on complaints ineligible for USERRA coverage. VETS investigations staff also spent time on complaints that were not substantiated, which includes cases where an investigator determined an employer would have taken the same action (e.g., denied a promotion) against a service member regardless of uniformed service or protected activity. From fiscal year 2021 through fiscal year 2025, “not eligible” and “not substantiated” complaints represented about 10 percent (540 of 5,433 complaints) and about 30 percent (1,632 of 5,433 complaints) of total closed complaints, respectively. VETS provides numerous resources on its website to help educate service members, but investigations staff said the resources are inadequate because they are optional. Also, GAO found that navigating the large number of resources could be challenging for some service members. DOL’s Fiscal Year 2026–2030 Strategic Plan includes a strategy for VETS to educate service members and others on their employment rights. By reviewing existing resources and identifying and implementing options to streamline or modify them, VETS could help service members better understand their eligibility under USERRA before submitting complaints and the standards required to demonstrate that an adverse employer action constitutes a violation. VETS’s national office provides standardized training to new investigators, and regional offices provide additional training. VETS staff from two of the three selected regions GAO interviewed said they developed region-specific training because the recurring training from VETS’s national office does not meet their needs. These region-specific training activities have differed in focus and frequency. Assessing investigator training needs and addressing identified gaps would help VETS better identify and deliver training to its staff to support them in investigating USERRA complaints to better protect service members’ employment rights. Why GAO Did This Study U.S. military readiness depends on service members who are prepared to serve when called. USERRA seeks to protect the civilian careers of service members by ensuring that they are not disadvantaged in their employment because of their military obligations. Under USERRA, service members are entitled to be reemployed in the civilian jobs they left to serve in the uniformed service. However, some service members have faced challenges retaining or resuming their civilian employment. The Senator Elizabeth Dole 21st Century Veterans Healthcare and Benefits Improvement Act includes a provision for GAO to review VETS’s processing of service members’ complaints alleging their USERRA rights have been violated. This report examines, among other things, trends in USERRA complaint investigations data from fiscal year 2021 through fiscal year 2025 and challenges in the investigation process. GAO reviewed VETS documentation and USERRA complaint data, and interviewed VETS national office officials and staff from three regions selected based on factors such as workload and number of staff.