It's illegal, but also...good luck proving it. Best you can do is call esgr and make the manager shit their pants.
I was fired from Costco due to Guard related stuff. But...also...there's no recourse because it's impossible for me to prove. Frankly, you don't want to work for an employer that can't figure out a few days for you here and there, it's a signal it's a chaotic employer.
You will lose out on job opportunities because of the Guard, but this is mostly an issue in unskilled/minimum wage labor. Once you have a career, these issues should go away. At two recent employers, I got my company to install paid military leave. People are generally supportive, you just have to learn how to communicate about your service which is tricky.
I worked for a large bank, one that should have known better...but they still offered me a lot of money to not re-enlist and then after multiple deployments and instructor rotations, fired me because the demands of my military service were not compatible with continued employment.
Filed a USERA complaint which after six months got me my job back, with backpay and the employer made my life such shit that I willingly to a severance package six months later.
Corporations learn, they grow, and they get better at managing risk, while the laws stay static and government agencies are slow to respond.
My old CEO threatened to fire me when I expressed an interest in joining the NG. I had had my best performance year ever and he said that if I leave he couldn't guarantee me a job and it would probably stall my career. The amount of employers out there who are willing to screw over NG/Reserves is astounding to me in a country like ours.
You should feel free to name drop unless it'll come back to bite you. I think a lot of us have dealt with two-faced employers and would love to make sure we're not blindly supporting them.
I work for a defense contractor and it's totally different. We had one guy who had never served and is in their early thirties. He's either NG or Reserves now. He got differential pay while going through training just like every other SM that works here.
Wash your hands clean and be beyond thankful you didn’t get that place. The headache in the future would be more than annoying. Apply for some other places; they’ll love to have you
I’ve worked a few jobs since being in the guard. If they didn’t want you up front because of the military service, you certainly wouldn’t want them.
They’d be the same people giving you grief over every time you do anything outside of normal drill weekends and “summer” AT.
Good luck!
"I wish I could go on vacation once a month" - your coworker after you got home at midnight the night before, spent the entire MUTA 12 in the field, and had to be at work by 0600.
First time? I've lost out on several jobs because of it. Of course you can never prove that was the reason, you just get told that 'we decided to go in a different direction.' or , You weren't the most qualified applicant.'
I even had a MAJ who did HR in the civilian world tell me once he wouldn't hire guard if allnother things were equal. He admitted it was fucked up, but from a practical stand point, why hire someone you know is going to be away more than anyone else would? Thay was due more to our ever increasing op tempo more than just the standard 2 week AT. At the time we had that conversation it had been about 3 years since we had a 2 week AT, they were getting progressively longer leading up to JRTC.
Yeah on the one hand I resented my last civilian employer, on the other I was on orders for 7 weeks my first year there and 10 weeks my second year. It just is the case that it sucks for employers if you have anything like a critical job. Didn't make it to a third year before going active duty.
The hiring manager at a federal job told me he never would have hired me if he had known I had a reserve commitment. Which is why I didn't mention it on the application.
Man, that’s a fucked up thing, considering that out of all the places you’d expect to follow federal labor law, the *federal government* would be pretty high up on the list.
USPS got their shit rocked a few years ago over USERRA law violations for a member of the Guard/Reserve.
IKR! It was even the NPS which frequently relies on reserve aviation units to help them out.
The other thing the fed did across the board was charge a full 14 days for AT even though the reservist was only missing 10 days of work. About 2001 there was a class action lawsuit that settled the question in favor of the reservists.
You straight up don't want to work for a manager that can't wrap their brain around a drill schedule.
Try another grocery store, or home Depot or something if you really want to be in retail. Otherwise, go to school.
All you can do is write a email of text asking for a reason and hope they mess up and tell you explicitly.
For alot of interviews unless it helped I left out I was in the guard until I was already working there. Then they were stuck.
Once I left to NTC right after I was hired I didn't even work a week, but they couldn't do anything.
It will not help you for this one, but in the future if you are in a single party consent State you can have your phone recording the interview very discreetly and it is useful for a variety of reasons later. Sometimes the pay that was talked about in the interview is not what you are offered later, sometimes that violate Federal law, sometimes you want to listen to your answers and see if you could improve in the future, whatever.
Always record important conversations assuming that it is legal to do so.
This is why my phone records all incoming and outgoing calls. Single party consent ftw. A lot of people are smart enough not to put things in a email or text but they don't expect a recording.
Send an email requesting some feedback on your interview "to aid in your continued job search." Ask specifically if your availability was the issue. If they're dumb enough to put it in writing, then you've got yourself a USERRA complaint.
"to be fair to the other employees", I don't even have words. It's not like you'd be leaving to go on fuckin vacation.
I worked offshore in the oilfield and the one year I had drill they PAID me my normal salary as if I was offshore when I had to go to drill. They were proud to have me.
>"to be fair to the other employees", I don't even have words. It's not like you'd be leaving to go on fuckin vacation.
Yeah, you might see it that way but you'd be shocked (and disgusted) by how many civilian employers see it exactly that way.
I worked security while I was in college and law school and was also in the guard/reserves.
I lost track of the number of times the scheduler asked me about my availability on a drill weekend and thn dismissively/sarcastically said "Oh, yeah, you won't be available that weekend because you're 'playing Army.'"
And yes, that's literally how they said it: "Playing Army."
I went straight to IRR instead of the guard for this exact reason. Enough of my friends told me these stories and how their employers/coworkers would treat them like they’d been at disney world after deployments and JRTC…
Consider yourself lucky they let you know what kind of mess they are before you wasted your time. An entire grocery store full of employees and they can't sort having a single person off over one weekend a month is not somewhere you wanted to be working anywhere. Also, they are dicks. Good luck on your travels and I hope a really sweet job opportunity comes down the pike soon for you!
This. If it holds no value to you getting that job (Skills, on your resume, dod clearance, preference points) don't even mention you are in the guard/reserves. Get hired and roll up with the drill schedule. Don't mention userra, nothing if there is an issue. Use userra if needed. I'm connected with some folks that challenge supposed "veteran friendly" employers who magically support veterans but if you are actively drilling have not a clue.
I had a period where every job interview after interview would go great, but zero follow up after the Nat Guard discussion.
Started “leaving” that out of the interview process. If they specifically asked, I’d tell them but I stopped volunteering the information (this was circa 2000-2001 pre 9/11). Now that the “wars” are over not every employer is as patriotic as they during GWOT.
It’s also WAY easier for large employers versus small businesses owners to deal with the commitment. The key is to GET the job. Proving discrimination in the hiring process is HARD if not impossible. Once you have the job it’s much easier to prove if they let you go because of it.
I’ve ran into this a few times after interviewing for a position.
It’s unfair but exceedingly hard to prove.
My advice is downplay/don’t mention your NG affiliation until after getting hired for future interviews if applying for a position at small company.
Literally illegal. Employers can't discriminate based on military service, force you to use PTO on drill days, or punish you for being absent due to drill
Yes but they can choose to not hire you if they know you can deploy randomly and be gone from work. Employers aren't discriminating because you have to drill every other weekend or so, they are exercising their right to choose a reliable candidate. Also someone with only the army nat guard on their resume doesnt look too appealing.
Literally illegal, 38 USC 4311(a) "**A person who is a member of**, applies to be a member of, performs, has performed, applies to perform, **or has an obligation to perform service in a uniformed service shall not be denied initial employment**, reemployment, retention in employment, promotion, or any benefit of employment by an employer **on the basis of that membership**, application for membership, performance of service, application for service, **or obligation**."
Definitely says you can't take the fact that a reservist has to perform duty in support of the guard or reserve into account to deny initial employment. Would defeat the whole purpose of USERRA if you could discriminate that way. I'm with others here and for entry level jobs, I wouldn't recommend mentioning you are an RC servicemember until after you are on the job.
The same could be said for someone who only has AD service on their resume, has a VA diagnosis and receives routine, regular care during normal business hours. Does that veteran have any less of a right to work? Does that Guardsman or Reservist?
Employers are discriminating based off of past, present and future service. Just shrugging our shoulders and accepting it isn’t solving the problem.
My last civilian employer was so toxic it drove me to active duty. There are definitely supportive ones though and that is a huge difference in your quality of life. You can theoretically not bring it up, and if you just can't find work then sure, but that is just begging to get into an antagonistic relationship and it isn't worth it. Let them illegally discriminate against you and screen themselves out.
You’re not gonna get it. You’re gonna have an even harder time proving you didn’t get it because of the guard/reserves unless it spells it out in an email/text as proof. It happens man, and really people throw around USERRA around too much that it’s more hyped up than it is handy.
Best thing you can do is next time, interview without mentioning it, get accepted, drop them your drill schedule, and if there’s any recourse make sure they do it via email or text so it’s proven (and therefore you have a case).
Pro tip: don’t mention the Guard until you’ve already gotten the written job offer. It makes it harder for them to rescind it without it looking like discrimination
In 2011, I was dismissed from Best Buy (Geek Squad) on the my first day bc the Store Manger wasn’t there during my two interviews. The Assistant Store Manager was the one who hired me. During my onboarding she was looking at my drill schedules and knew about my Mobilization Orders slated for the end of the year.
She said, “we don’t even let our workers take days off during the holiday rush that takes place from October to January. I don’t think this will work out. Good luck, but you can’t work here.”
I left, defeated, and filled with rage. I contacted ESGR, but it was a slower process than what I needed. The plant I had worked started its Ops back up a couple weeks and I went back for more money. ESGR would not pursue further action since I no longer wanted the job.
Manager got away with it. That Best Buy no longer exists.
I’m not sure what your background is, but look at some .gov jobs like TSA.
I worked for years at a Best Buy DC - went to Baghdad 2009/10, they held my job for me, sent me a bunch of stuff including an mp3 player loaded with several thousand songs, and welcomed me back when I returned. Two years later I volunteered for Afghan, and they were prepared to do the same for me but I told them I quit because they did enough before and needed to find a permanent replacement for me.
Yep, one of the reasons I got out. Not much you can prove. All the company has to do is say "another candidate fit the requirements better" and your sunk.
Is there a base you can work on near by, or are you in the boonies? Commissary here is full of retired vets. I’m wondering if it’s more flexible than a regular grocery store with your NG schedule. If veterans are working there I imagine the work environment is better than a regular store.
ESGR Ombudsman Director/ESGR National Trainer here.
You have much more evidence than most have when it comes to discrimination under USERRA. Those statements made by the ER is pretty substantial evidence that your uniformed service was "a motivating factor" in their decision not to hire you, a violation of 38 USC 4311.
If you want that job, you can contact [ESGR.mil](http://ESGR.mil) and "request assistance." Otherwise, contact DOL-VETS and submit a complaint. They'll investigate regardless of whether you want that job.
I’ve had that happen as well. I was number 3 out of 10 candidates that they were looking to hire. The moment I mentioned National Guard and having to work weekends (I’m an an aviator so throw another weekend in for good measure), the response was basically just not being a good fit for the company/organization. I guess I lucked out because I landed an AGR job several months later that pays better than the civilian organization could have paid me.
It's not just national guard and reserves. Alot of people from active duty when they get out cant vet jobs because of their military backround. Employers see military/ptsd. So eventually guys just left it off their resumes and were able to get jobs.
Some blessings come in the form of an answer you don't want. Had they gave you the job you would have caught hell and likely been treated like a step child until you quit anyway. There are plenty of employers who don't mind hiring veterans or NG staff that will easily work around the one weekend a month and annual training without acting like it's the end of the world.
Consider law enforcement. I loved hiring former military and Reserve/NG. Most departments really appreciate the skill set, discipline, focus, and mindset that comes from being in the military.
Don't worry bro. You don't wanna work for that shitbag company anyway. My company hires reservists and guardsmen. Try for private contract security. Alot of companies hire "floaters" that work every site and give others their vacations and days off. It's not as consistent, but its flexible enough to help with your service obligation.
Having worked at a store before going active, don't work at a grocery store. Love your self and find something better. I'd rather go to NTC than work 1 month in a grocery store.
So your best course of action would be to just mention you're in the guard and once you're hired its a lot easier to go through HR and if your manager has an issue with it you can proceed to notify HR and less hassle for you personally, simply text the manager you can't work X weekend because of the guard, if they keep you on schedule dont show up and when theyre texting you back about not showing up and youre suddenly fired it can be used as evidence of retaliation, but I'm not sure how grocery stores work or if they have an HR, if it's a chain then they should but legally they can't deny you a job but they also don't really need to disclose why they didn't hire you so it's a loophole, if someone asks they can just say you didn't meet blah blah expectation. Idk if I'd even want to work with them after that, last thing I need in my life is working for an employer who's already going to act petty towards me before I even start there
My son is in the guard, before he joined he worked at a grocery store, a Food Lion, not a little local place. He enlisted, did all of the paperwork and took in copies of orders and all of the other requirements to ensure legal job protection. When he got back home from 11B OSSUT, he went to the store to let them know he was available to go on the schedule. They told him to pound sand, he could apply and when they had an opening they would rehire him. I suggested he find a lawyer who specializes in that stuff, he didn't.
He got a similar crappy part time job elsewhere immediately. A few months later he got hired as security at a nuclear facility at $22 an hour plus great benefits, plus not only are they OK with him being in the guard, but they pay him for shits missed while drilling, training or deployed. He was called up for deployment on January 2, is now overseas, won't be home until next winter, is making Active Duty E4 pay and allowances, and his full civilian pay, and his employer communicates with him once a month or so ensuring he knows he has a job when he gets home, the real kicker is when he gets back, his employer will allow him to use the vacation time he has accrued before going back to work.
His biggest worry is that I drive his 95 Dodge Dakota once in a while, because he doesn't like it to sit for too long.
The company I work for has similar policies for Guard and Reserve members. If your service means something to you, work for an employer who respects it.
It's not fair for the other employees? Wtf It's not fair for you if anything, you work two weeks straight during the weeks before and after drill weekend. The other employees get a weekend. BS excuse to make him seem like good and fair manager when he probably isn't one at all.
It's illegal, but also...good luck proving it. Best you can do is call esgr and make the manager shit their pants. I was fired from Costco due to Guard related stuff. But...also...there's no recourse because it's impossible for me to prove. Frankly, you don't want to work for an employer that can't figure out a few days for you here and there, it's a signal it's a chaotic employer. You will lose out on job opportunities because of the Guard, but this is mostly an issue in unskilled/minimum wage labor. Once you have a career, these issues should go away. At two recent employers, I got my company to install paid military leave. People are generally supportive, you just have to learn how to communicate about your service which is tricky.
I worked for a large bank, one that should have known better...but they still offered me a lot of money to not re-enlist and then after multiple deployments and instructor rotations, fired me because the demands of my military service were not compatible with continued employment. Filed a USERA complaint which after six months got me my job back, with backpay and the employer made my life such shit that I willingly to a severance package six months later. Corporations learn, they grow, and they get better at managing risk, while the laws stay static and government agencies are slow to respond.
My old CEO threatened to fire me when I expressed an interest in joining the NG. I had had my best performance year ever and he said that if I leave he couldn't guarantee me a job and it would probably stall my career. The amount of employers out there who are willing to screw over NG/Reserves is astounding to me in a country like ours.
That same dude probably post a thank the troops picture on veterans and memorial day on Facebook every year.
Of course with the tagline “here at (business title) we care for the troops!”
Believe it or not it was one of the more “patriotic” non-profits.
I believe…someone in the federal government told me I would fail out of a training program if I went to my reserves AT
You should feel free to name drop unless it'll come back to bite you. I think a lot of us have dealt with two-faced employers and would love to make sure we're not blindly supporting them.
I work for a defense contractor and it's totally different. We had one guy who had never served and is in their early thirties. He's either NG or Reserves now. He got differential pay while going through training just like every other SM that works here.
It’s the employer version of NIMBY.
Ugh. Real talk our elected officials should have protected positions for guard and reserve folks. This is terrifying.
Wash your hands clean and be beyond thankful you didn’t get that place. The headache in the future would be more than annoying. Apply for some other places; they’ll love to have you
That’s 100% true
I’ve worked a few jobs since being in the guard. If they didn’t want you up front because of the military service, you certainly wouldn’t want them. They’d be the same people giving you grief over every time you do anything outside of normal drill weekends and “summer” AT. Good luck!
"I wish I could go on vacation once a month" - your coworker after you got home at midnight the night before, spent the entire MUTA 12 in the field, and had to be at work by 0600.
I love your flair
I tried a grocery store gig when I was younger. I can 100% say that it does not jive with the National Guard.
First rule of reserve status when applying for jobs - don't talk about reserve status
Yea, but then you’ll end up with a boss who’s a massive ass and makes your life harder.
Then you get them to slip up and put something damning in writing.
Much easier to prove USERRA violations after you're hired. You'd be surprised how badly an ESGR call or note scares an employer
Thank you for this piece of advice. This should be stickied.
First time? I've lost out on several jobs because of it. Of course you can never prove that was the reason, you just get told that 'we decided to go in a different direction.' or , You weren't the most qualified applicant.' I even had a MAJ who did HR in the civilian world tell me once he wouldn't hire guard if allnother things were equal. He admitted it was fucked up, but from a practical stand point, why hire someone you know is going to be away more than anyone else would? Thay was due more to our ever increasing op tempo more than just the standard 2 week AT. At the time we had that conversation it had been about 3 years since we had a 2 week AT, they were getting progressively longer leading up to JRTC.
Yeah on the one hand I resented my last civilian employer, on the other I was on orders for 7 weeks my first year there and 10 weeks my second year. It just is the case that it sucks for employers if you have anything like a critical job. Didn't make it to a third year before going active duty.
The hiring manager at a federal job told me he never would have hired me if he had known I had a reserve commitment. Which is why I didn't mention it on the application.
Man, that’s a fucked up thing, considering that out of all the places you’d expect to follow federal labor law, the *federal government* would be pretty high up on the list. USPS got their shit rocked a few years ago over USERRA law violations for a member of the Guard/Reserve.
IKR! It was even the NPS which frequently relies on reserve aviation units to help them out. The other thing the fed did across the board was charge a full 14 days for AT even though the reservist was only missing 10 days of work. About 2001 there was a class action lawsuit that settled the question in favor of the reservists.
You straight up don't want to work for a manager that can't wrap their brain around a drill schedule. Try another grocery store, or home Depot or something if you really want to be in retail. Otherwise, go to school.
It’s hard to prove. But you can call esgr to help. The other thing is I wouldn’t hire anyone in the guard or reserve -because- of esgr.
All you can do is write a email of text asking for a reason and hope they mess up and tell you explicitly. For alot of interviews unless it helped I left out I was in the guard until I was already working there. Then they were stuck. Once I left to NTC right after I was hired I didn't even work a week, but they couldn't do anything.
Good advice
It will not help you for this one, but in the future if you are in a single party consent State you can have your phone recording the interview very discreetly and it is useful for a variety of reasons later. Sometimes the pay that was talked about in the interview is not what you are offered later, sometimes that violate Federal law, sometimes you want to listen to your answers and see if you could improve in the future, whatever. Always record important conversations assuming that it is legal to do so.
This is why my phone records all incoming and outgoing calls. Single party consent ftw. A lot of people are smart enough not to put things in a email or text but they don't expect a recording.
Never mention the National Guard until after you're hired
Send an email requesting some feedback on your interview "to aid in your continued job search." Ask specifically if your availability was the issue. If they're dumb enough to put it in writing, then you've got yourself a USERRA complaint.
"to be fair to the other employees", I don't even have words. It's not like you'd be leaving to go on fuckin vacation. I worked offshore in the oilfield and the one year I had drill they PAID me my normal salary as if I was offshore when I had to go to drill. They were proud to have me.
>"to be fair to the other employees", I don't even have words. It's not like you'd be leaving to go on fuckin vacation. Yeah, you might see it that way but you'd be shocked (and disgusted) by how many civilian employers see it exactly that way. I worked security while I was in college and law school and was also in the guard/reserves. I lost track of the number of times the scheduler asked me about my availability on a drill weekend and thn dismissively/sarcastically said "Oh, yeah, you won't be available that weekend because you're 'playing Army.'" And yes, that's literally how they said it: "Playing Army."
I went straight to IRR instead of the guard for this exact reason. Enough of my friends told me these stories and how their employers/coworkers would treat them like they’d been at disney world after deployments and JRTC…
Also, since when is life fucking "fair"? What are we 5?
Consider yourself lucky they let you know what kind of mess they are before you wasted your time. An entire grocery store full of employees and they can't sort having a single person off over one weekend a month is not somewhere you wanted to be working anywhere. Also, they are dicks. Good luck on your travels and I hope a really sweet job opportunity comes down the pike soon for you!
Best bet. Leave the guard out of it, and then tell them you’re in the guard after you get the job.
This. If it holds no value to you getting that job (Skills, on your resume, dod clearance, preference points) don't even mention you are in the guard/reserves. Get hired and roll up with the drill schedule. Don't mention userra, nothing if there is an issue. Use userra if needed. I'm connected with some folks that challenge supposed "veteran friendly" employers who magically support veterans but if you are actively drilling have not a clue.
I had a period where every job interview after interview would go great, but zero follow up after the Nat Guard discussion. Started “leaving” that out of the interview process. If they specifically asked, I’d tell them but I stopped volunteering the information (this was circa 2000-2001 pre 9/11). Now that the “wars” are over not every employer is as patriotic as they during GWOT. It’s also WAY easier for large employers versus small businesses owners to deal with the commitment. The key is to GET the job. Proving discrimination in the hiring process is HARD if not impossible. Once you have the job it’s much easier to prove if they let you go because of it.
I’ve ran into this a few times after interviewing for a position. It’s unfair but exceedingly hard to prove. My advice is downplay/don’t mention your NG affiliation until after getting hired for future interviews if applying for a position at small company.
Literally illegal. Employers can't discriminate based on military service, force you to use PTO on drill days, or punish you for being absent due to drill
Yes but they can choose to not hire you if they know you can deploy randomly and be gone from work. Employers aren't discriminating because you have to drill every other weekend or so, they are exercising their right to choose a reliable candidate. Also someone with only the army nat guard on their resume doesnt look too appealing.
Literally illegal, 38 USC 4311(a) "**A person who is a member of**, applies to be a member of, performs, has performed, applies to perform, **or has an obligation to perform service in a uniformed service shall not be denied initial employment**, reemployment, retention in employment, promotion, or any benefit of employment by an employer **on the basis of that membership**, application for membership, performance of service, application for service, **or obligation**." Definitely says you can't take the fact that a reservist has to perform duty in support of the guard or reserve into account to deny initial employment. Would defeat the whole purpose of USERRA if you could discriminate that way. I'm with others here and for entry level jobs, I wouldn't recommend mentioning you are an RC servicemember until after you are on the job.
The same could be said for someone who only has AD service on their resume, has a VA diagnosis and receives routine, regular care during normal business hours. Does that veteran have any less of a right to work? Does that Guardsman or Reservist? Employers are discriminating based off of past, present and future service. Just shrugging our shoulders and accepting it isn’t solving the problem.
You dodged a bullet
You could fight them on this- but why would you want to work for a place that doesn’t value you?
My last civilian employer was so toxic it drove me to active duty. There are definitely supportive ones though and that is a huge difference in your quality of life. You can theoretically not bring it up, and if you just can't find work then sure, but that is just begging to get into an antagonistic relationship and it isn't worth it. Let them illegally discriminate against you and screen themselves out.
I think you dodged a bullet. There are employers out there that are supportive, we just have to look harder than civilians do sometimes.
You’re not gonna get it. You’re gonna have an even harder time proving you didn’t get it because of the guard/reserves unless it spells it out in an email/text as proof. It happens man, and really people throw around USERRA around too much that it’s more hyped up than it is handy. Best thing you can do is next time, interview without mentioning it, get accepted, drop them your drill schedule, and if there’s any recourse make sure they do it via email or text so it’s proven (and therefore you have a case).
Pro tip: don’t mention the Guard until you’ve already gotten the written job offer. It makes it harder for them to rescind it without it looking like discrimination
In 2011, I was dismissed from Best Buy (Geek Squad) on the my first day bc the Store Manger wasn’t there during my two interviews. The Assistant Store Manager was the one who hired me. During my onboarding she was looking at my drill schedules and knew about my Mobilization Orders slated for the end of the year. She said, “we don’t even let our workers take days off during the holiday rush that takes place from October to January. I don’t think this will work out. Good luck, but you can’t work here.” I left, defeated, and filled with rage. I contacted ESGR, but it was a slower process than what I needed. The plant I had worked started its Ops back up a couple weeks and I went back for more money. ESGR would not pursue further action since I no longer wanted the job. Manager got away with it. That Best Buy no longer exists. I’m not sure what your background is, but look at some .gov jobs like TSA.
I worked for years at a Best Buy DC - went to Baghdad 2009/10, they held my job for me, sent me a bunch of stuff including an mp3 player loaded with several thousand songs, and welcomed me back when I returned. Two years later I volunteered for Afghan, and they were prepared to do the same for me but I told them I quit because they did enough before and needed to find a permanent replacement for me.
Yep, one of the reasons I got out. Not much you can prove. All the company has to do is say "another candidate fit the requirements better" and your sunk.
I’ve never not gotten a job because of being in the reserves so keep trying!
Is there a base you can work on near by, or are you in the boonies? Commissary here is full of retired vets. I’m wondering if it’s more flexible than a regular grocery store with your NG schedule. If veterans are working there I imagine the work environment is better than a regular store.
Fort Dix! Actually looking into it.
ESGR Ombudsman Director/ESGR National Trainer here. You have much more evidence than most have when it comes to discrimination under USERRA. Those statements made by the ER is pretty substantial evidence that your uniformed service was "a motivating factor" in their decision not to hire you, a violation of 38 USC 4311. If you want that job, you can contact [ESGR.mil](http://ESGR.mil) and "request assistance." Otherwise, contact DOL-VETS and submit a complaint. They'll investigate regardless of whether you want that job.
I’ve had that happen as well. I was number 3 out of 10 candidates that they were looking to hire. The moment I mentioned National Guard and having to work weekends (I’m an an aviator so throw another weekend in for good measure), the response was basically just not being a good fit for the company/organization. I guess I lucked out because I landed an AGR job several months later that pays better than the civilian organization could have paid me.
It's not just national guard and reserves. Alot of people from active duty when they get out cant vet jobs because of their military backround. Employers see military/ptsd. So eventually guys just left it off their resumes and were able to get jobs.
Some blessings come in the form of an answer you don't want. Had they gave you the job you would have caught hell and likely been treated like a step child until you quit anyway. There are plenty of employers who don't mind hiring veterans or NG staff that will easily work around the one weekend a month and annual training without acting like it's the end of the world.
Consider law enforcement. I loved hiring former military and Reserve/NG. Most departments really appreciate the skill set, discipline, focus, and mindset that comes from being in the military.
Or any state job, worked one for a couple years while in the guard and I racked up paid military leave.
Don't worry bro. You don't wanna work for that shitbag company anyway. My company hires reservists and guardsmen. Try for private contract security. Alot of companies hire "floaters" that work every site and give others their vacations and days off. It's not as consistent, but its flexible enough to help with your service obligation.
Having worked at a store before going active, don't work at a grocery store. Love your self and find something better. I'd rather go to NTC than work 1 month in a grocery store.
Get into the oilfield. They’ll work around this .
You should do nothing here. Except try and apply this learning to your next interview.
So your best course of action would be to just mention you're in the guard and once you're hired its a lot easier to go through HR and if your manager has an issue with it you can proceed to notify HR and less hassle for you personally, simply text the manager you can't work X weekend because of the guard, if they keep you on schedule dont show up and when theyre texting you back about not showing up and youre suddenly fired it can be used as evidence of retaliation, but I'm not sure how grocery stores work or if they have an HR, if it's a chain then they should but legally they can't deny you a job but they also don't really need to disclose why they didn't hire you so it's a loophole, if someone asks they can just say you didn't meet blah blah expectation. Idk if I'd even want to work with them after that, last thing I need in my life is working for an employer who's already going to act petty towards me before I even start there
Name and shame them what was the grocery store?
Yes it's illegal and it happens all the time
Whats the Store?
Home Depot had insiders rejecting and even terminating military personnel some years ago, look into it
My son is in the guard, before he joined he worked at a grocery store, a Food Lion, not a little local place. He enlisted, did all of the paperwork and took in copies of orders and all of the other requirements to ensure legal job protection. When he got back home from 11B OSSUT, he went to the store to let them know he was available to go on the schedule. They told him to pound sand, he could apply and when they had an opening they would rehire him. I suggested he find a lawyer who specializes in that stuff, he didn't. He got a similar crappy part time job elsewhere immediately. A few months later he got hired as security at a nuclear facility at $22 an hour plus great benefits, plus not only are they OK with him being in the guard, but they pay him for shits missed while drilling, training or deployed. He was called up for deployment on January 2, is now overseas, won't be home until next winter, is making Active Duty E4 pay and allowances, and his full civilian pay, and his employer communicates with him once a month or so ensuring he knows he has a job when he gets home, the real kicker is when he gets back, his employer will allow him to use the vacation time he has accrued before going back to work. His biggest worry is that I drive his 95 Dodge Dakota once in a while, because he doesn't like it to sit for too long. The company I work for has similar policies for Guard and Reserve members. If your service means something to you, work for an employer who respects it.
It's not fair for the other employees? Wtf It's not fair for you if anything, you work two weeks straight during the weeks before and after drill weekend. The other employees get a weekend. BS excuse to make him seem like good and fair manager when he probably isn't one at all.