Reservists And The Job Dilemma

Kathy Robertson, in a Sacramento Business Journal article, wrote about three reservists from the Sacramento area. An interesting story but it fails to present a real and ongoing dilemma that reservists face when searching for a job. Employers don’t want to be put into the position of hiring someone who may be called away at anytime and sometimes for years. Add to that the severe penalties that an employer may face if they try to do what is best for the business and the answer seems simple; an unspoken policy against the hiring of active reservists.

Instead of threatening and punishing employers who step up and take the added responsibility of hiring reservists, we should reward these companies with a tax credit that kicks in when the reservist is reinstated. Lets say a 1/3rd tax credit equivalent to the reservists salary and applied to twice his time of missed work should be sufficient to make a reservist a valued commodity.

Previous articles about jobs and reservists:

Practical Career Training For Ex-Military
Patriot Express Ignored By MSM
Renewed Call For Reservists Legislation
Employers Snubbing Reservists

Practical Career Training For Ex-Military

U.S. Department of Labor Veterans' Employment and Training Service, through its Transition Assistance Program, has initiated a test pilot program that provides computer training to ex-military. The training allows the person to obtain a certificate in CompTIA A+ and is currently being taught in Jacksonville, Florida.

A good portion of the initial funding for this program has come from the Hewlett-Packard Co., and CompTIA Education Foundation hopes to expand this training to New Horizons Computer Learning Centers across the country as additional funding becomes available.

This is a step in the right direction and we urge every ex-military person to apply. Even though the goal is to provide free training to 200 people per year, if thousands of applicants are submitted, I’ll bet that American tech companies will step up and provide the funding needed to get it done.

Patriot Express Ignored By MSM

Because of its far reaching implications to millions of Americans, this type of program should have received with a higher level of interest. Could it be that since this program is targeted towards the military that it has received minimal media attention? If this program were targeted towards minority funding, African-Americans or Woman, it would be a headline story with considerable commentary.

Last week the Small Business Administration announced a streamlined loan product, the Patriot Express Pilot Loan Initiative that is based on the SBA Express Program, but with enhanced guarantee and interest rate characteristics.

Another loan program is hardly a devastating news event, but as written about in Bush Abandons Manufacturing, the President and Congress is currently in an anti-business mode. Funding for programs and agencies that aid small business has been cut drastically while taxes and regulatory burdens have increased.

The funding amounts in this program are minimal, not sufficient to allow for a quality Real Estate purchase, it is available to millions of veterans, reservists and their spouses.

I’ve written in Employers Snubbing Reservists & Renewed Call For Reservists Legislation about the dire need for legislative change in the laws regarding reservists. The current law punishes small business and puts a reservist’s application at the bottom of the stack instead of the top, where they belong.

Unfortunately even the SBA Press Release is politically motivated:

"SBA thanks the Presidential Task Force on Returning Global War onTerror Heroes for its guidance and hard work and Veterans Affairs Secretary Jim Nicholson for his devoted leadership,"

Note the typo in their Press Release, they must have been in a hurry.

For information on the program, follow these links: Patriot Express Pilot Loan Initiative & SCORE Web Site

Renewed Call For Reservists Legislation

As posted previously in Employers Snubbing Reservists employing reservists can be a risky endeavor for small business and a pain for larger companies. With 550,000 reservists called up since the beginning of the Iraq War, a majority of employers, albeit to themselves, resist hiring a reservist. Besides the inconvenience of losing a valued worker there are stiff penalties if something should happen.

Legislation is needed that offers employers tax credits that kick in when an employee returns to work from performing their reservists duties. Why hire someone if their work might be disrupted and all you have to look forward to is penalties. It time to provide a carrot to employers.

Still Time To Send A Free Card To Our Troops

Click here and link to: Let Say Thanks.Com to send a free Christmas card to our troops in Iraq.

Employers Snubbing Reservists

We need a law, not one to punish employers but one that rewards employers who follow the rules and provide jobs for reservists.

In an USA Today article writer Barbara Slavin states that claims by reservists against their employers are up 30% from 2002. Many small companies find it impossible to fill in for our called-up reservists and are forced to replace the position. Instead of creating an impossible situation for both the employer and the reservist, the government could offer a reasonable tax credit to the employer kicking in when the reservist is reinstated.

Ms. Slavin also quotes Retired Marine lieutenant general Dennis McCarthy, executive director of the Reserve Officers Association, a private advocacy group, acknowledged the deployments can be difficult for employers, particularly small companies. "That burden is an acceptable cost when it's compared to the value of reserve service to our country,"

I say why does that “acceptable cost” have to be borne by the small employer who can afford and work around it the least. If you were an employer, would you hire a reservist likely to be called up for a year. They deserve a reward for the disruption that a call-up forces upon their businesses.