Other Presidential Documents
and promote employment opportunities for veterans within the executive branch. Over the last few years, the Federal Government has made a concerted and successful effort to increase the hiring of military veterans and members of the National Guard and Reserves, and veterans now constitute a higher percentage of the Federal workforce than they have in years.
The Federal Government must continue to improve outreach to the uniformed services, veteran, Guard, and Reserve communities; improve agencies’ USERRA training and guidance; and ensure that service members and veterans in Federal employment receive the full extent of their employment protections, including USERRA protections. Therefore, by the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, I hereby direct the following:
Section 1. USERRA Employment Protection Working Group. There is established the USERRA Employment Protection Working Group (Working Group), to be co-chaired by the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy and the Assistant to the President and National Security Advisor, or their designated representatives, which shall coordinate and review agency efforts to implement USERRA.
(a) In addition to the Co-Chairs, the Working Group shall include representatives from:
(i) the Department of Defense;
(ii) the Department of Justice;
(iii) the Department of Labor;
(iv) the Department of Veterans Affairs;
(v) the Office of Personnel Management;
(vi) the Office of the Special Counsel; and
(vii) such other agencies or offices as the Co-Chairs may designate.
(b) In addition to coordinating and reviewing agency efforts to implement USERRA pursuant to this memorandum, the Working Group shall:
(i) collect data to better track the Federal Government’s performance in implementing USERRA protections;
(ii) coordinate agency efforts to implement best practices, training, and procedures for any agency officials who are authorized to recommend, take, or approve any personnel action with respect to employees of the agency in order to improve compliance with USERRA employment and reemployment protections; and
(iii) conduct outreach to veterans and members of the National Guard and Reserve and other members of the uniformed services to assist them in fully exercising their employment rights.
(c) Within 30 days of the date of this memorandum, the head of each agency shall designate a senior agency official to act as a liaison between the agency and the Working Group. The agency liaison shall be responsible for providing the Working Group with information on agency efforts to implement this memorandum, as well as any other relevant information on service member employment that the Working Group may require.
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