1.This Act may be cited as the
Wounded Veteran Job Security
Act
.
2.Rights of persons
who receive treatment for illnesses, injuries, and disabilities incurred in or
aggravated by service in the uniformed services
(a)Rights of
persons who receive treatment
(1)Subchapter II of
chapter 43 of title 38,
United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new
section:
4320.Rights of
persons absent from employment for treatment of service-connected
disabilities
(a)Subject
to subsection (e), a person who is absent from a position of employment by
reason of the receipt of medical treatment for a service-connected disability
is entitled to be retained by the person’s employer.
(b)A person who is absent from employment by
reason of the receipt of medical treatment for a service-connected disability
and who is entitled to be retained by the person’s employer under subsection
(a) is entitled to the seniority and other rights and benefits determined by
seniority that the person had on the date of the commencement of such treatment
plus the additional seniority and rights and benefits that such person would
have attained if the person had remained continuously employed.
(c)(1)A person who is absent
from a position of employment by reason of the receipt of medical treatment for
a service-connected disability and who is entitled to be retained by the
person’s employer under subsection (a) shall be—
(A)deemed to be on furlough or leave of
absence while receiving such treatment; and
(B)entitled to such other rights and
benefits not determined by seniority as are generally provided by the employer
of the person to employees having similar seniority, status, and pay who are on
furlough or leave of absence under a contract, agreement, policy, practice, or
plan in effect at the commencement of such service or established while such
person is so absent.
(2)(A)Subject to subparagraph
(C), a person described in subparagraph (B) is not entitled to rights and
benefits under paragraph (1)(B).
(B)A person described in this
subparagraph is a person who—
(i)is absent from a position of
employment by reason of the receipt of medical treatment for a
service-connected disability; and
(ii)knowingly provides written notice of
intent not to return to a position of employment after receiving such
treatment.
(C)For the purposes of this paragraph, the
employer shall have the burden of proving that a person knowingly provided
clear written notice of intent not to return to a position of employment after
being absent from employment by reason of the receipt of medical treatment and,
in doing so, was aware of the specific rights and benefits to be lost under
subparagraph (A).
(3)A
person deemed to be on furlough or leave of absence under this subsection while
receiving medical treatment for a service-connected disability shall not be
entitled under this subsection to any benefits to which the person would not
otherwise be entitled if the person had remained continuously employed.
(4)Such person may be required to pay
the employee cost, if any, of any funded benefit continued pursuant to
paragraph (1) to the extent other employees on furlough or leave of absence are
so required.
(5)The entitlement of a person to
coverage under a health plan is provided for under section 4317 of this
title.
(d)Any person who is absent from a position of
employment with an employer by reason of the receipt of medical treatment for a
service-connected disability shall be permitted, upon request of that person,
to use during the period during which the person is so absent, any vacation,
annual, medical, or similar leave with pay accrued by the person before the
commencement of such period. No employer may require any such person to use
vacation, annual, family, medical, or similar leave during such period.
(e)(1)An employer is not
required to comply with the requirements of this section if—
(A)the employer’s circumstances have so
changed as to make such compliance impossible or unreasonable;
(B)such compliance would impose an undue
hardship on the employer; or
(C)the employment from which the person
is absent by reason of the receipt of medical treatment is for a brief,
nonrecurrent period and there is no reasonable expectation that such employment
will continue indefinitely or for a significant period.
(2)In any proceeding involving an issue
of whether (A) any compliance referred to in paragraph (1) is impossible or
unreasonable because of a change in an employer's circumstances, (B) such
compliance would impose an undue hardship on the employer, or (C) the
employment referred to in paragraph (1)(C) is for a brief, nonrecurrent period
and there is no reasonable expectation that such employment will continue
indefinitely or for a significant period, the employer shall have the burden of
proving the impossibility or unreasonableness, undue hardship, or the brief or
nonrecurrent nature of the employment without a reasonable expectation of
continuing indefinitely or for a significant
period.
.
(2)The table of sections at the beginning of such chapter
is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 4319 the following
new item:
4320. Rights of persons absent from
employment for treatment of service-connected
disabilities.
.
(b)Section 4317 of title 38, United
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new
subsection:
(c)This section shall apply with respect to a
person who is absent from a position of employment by reason of the receipt of
medical treatment for a service-connected disability (other than a person
described in section
4320(c)(2)(B) of this title) on the same basis as a person who
is absent from a position of employment by reason of service in the uniformed
services. In the case of a person who is absent from a position of employment
by reason of the receipt of medical treatment for a service-connected
disability (other than a person described in
section
4320(c)(2)(B) of this title), the period during which the
person is so absent shall be treated as a period of service in the uniformed
services for purposes of this section.
.
(c)Prohibition of
discrimination and acts of reprisalSection 4311 of title 38, United
States Code, is amended—
(1)in subsection
(a)—
(A)by inserting after
uniformed service
the following: , or who has an illness,
injury, or disability determined by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to have
been incurred in or aggravated by such service,
; and
(B)by striking
or obligation
and inserting obligation, or receipt of
treatment for that illness, injury, or disability
; and
(2)in subsection
(c)—
(A)by striking
or obligation for service
the first time it appears and
inserting obligation for service, or receipt of treatment for an
illness, injury, or disability determined by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs
to have been incurred in or aggravated by service
; and
(B)by striking
or obligation for service
the second time it appears and
inserting obligation for service, or receipt of
treatment
.
(d)The amendments made by this section shall apply with respect
to medical treatment received on or after the date of the enactment of this
Act.
Passed the House of
Representatives June 8, 2009.
Lorraine C. Miller,
Clerk.