Tips For Military Spouses
The federal government has established an appointing authority for military spouses. While spouses will not receive veteran’s preference, they are eligible to be considered for federal employment. Heres what you need to know.
As a spouse, you could be eligible for employment if you are:
- A spouse of an active duty member of the armed forces
- A spouse of a service member who is 100% disabled due to a service-connected disability and unable to work
- A spouse of a service member killed while on active duty
Are There Any Laws That Protect Veterans With Disabilities In Employment
Yes. There are several federal laws that provide important protections for veterans with disabilities who are looking for jobs or are already in the workplace. Two of those laws the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act and Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act protect veterans from employment discrimination. USERRA has requirements for reemploying veterans with and without service-connected disabilities and is enforced by the U.S. Department of Labor and the Department of Justice . Title I of the ADA, which is enforced by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission , prohibits private and state and local government employers with 15 or more employees from discriminating against individuals on the basis of disability. Any veteran with a disability who meets the ADAs definition is covered, regardless of whether the veterans disability is service-connected.
USERRA prohibits employers from discriminating against employees or applicants for employment on the basis of their military status or military obligations. It also protects the reemployment rights of individuals who leave their civilian jobs to serve in the uniformed services, including the U.S. Reserve forces and state, District of Columbia, and territory National Guards.
Challenging A Rating Reduction
Once a veteran receives notification of the proposed rating reduction, they have the option to challenge the reduction. To challenge a rating reduction, veterans must submit a timely response within VAs deadlines. Veterans have:
- 60 days to submit evidence countering the reduction if they believe it is not warranted and
- 30 days to request a hearing.
If a veteran chooses to request a hearing, VA cannot issue a new rating decision until the hearing is held. This allows the veteran additional time to submit new evidence. However, requesting a hearing is not necessary to challenge a VA proposed rating reduction veterans can also simply submit new evidence within 60 days.
VA must consider all previous and new evidence when planning to reduce a rating. If, after this process, VA sends a final decision that reduces the veterans disability rating, the veteran can still appeal VAs decision by requesting a Higher-Level Review, submitting a Supplemental Claim, or filing a Notice of Disagreement.
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What Are Protected Va Disability Ratings
Congress has determined that, under certain conditions, it is not necessary for VA to expend resources to check on a veterans service-connected condition. Essentially, some ratings do not need to be periodically reevaluated.
A protected rating, broadly, is any VA disability rating that cannot be reduced or revoked by VA in the future. There are several types of protected ratings. Some ratings may become protected after a certain amount of years while others may be protected due to the nature of the condition.
What Is The Va Disability 10
The VA disability 10-year rule states that the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs cannot eliminate a disability rating that has been in place for at least 10 years unless there is evidence of fraud. This 10-year period is calculated from the effective date of VAs original grant for service connection.
However, VA can reduce a disability rating after 10 years if there is substantial medical evidence suggesting steady improvement of the veterans condition over time.
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What If My Rating Is Not Protected
Some service-connected conditions can improve over time or with treatment. If this is the case, VA is legally allowed to reduce a disability rating to compensate a veteran for their current level of disability.
However, before reducing a veterans rating, VA must send veterans a letter proposing a reduction of benefits.
Disabled Veterans Responsibility For Obtaining Benefits
Despite all the records kept and issued to you during service, the VA looks to the disabled veteran to apply for and submit evidence as part of a disability claim. By law, the veteran is to submit all relevant evidence in his or her possession and provide information sufficient to enable the VA to obtain all relevant evidence the vet does not have, as well as authorization to obtain and use these records.
All veterans discharged from the Army between November 1, 1912, and January 1, 1960, or veterans discharged from the Air Force between September 25, 1947, and January 1, 1964, who have the surname Hubbard or one that follows through the end of the alphabet, your military records may have been destroyed in a 1973 fire. Your claim requires a specific request to the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis to alert workers there to search for any additional service records applicable to you.
A veteran who can submit all required documents enters into the Fully Developed Claim Program, which is meant to expedite your claim. A veteran who would like the VAs assistance with obtaining documents necessary for their claim submits a Standard Claim. In a Standard Claim, the vet is still expected to adequately identify and authorize VA to obtain the required records.
A claim may require records from:
The VA may also require the veteran to attend to a medical examination if the VA feels it is necessary to make a decision.
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Special Home Adaption Grant
VA may approve a benefit amount up to a maximum of $13,511 for the cost of necessary adaptations to a Servicemembers or Veterans residence or to help him/her acquire a residence already adapted with special features for his/her disability, to purchase and adapt a home, or for adaptations to a family members home in which they will reside.
To be eligible for this grant, Servicemembers and Veterans must be entitled to compensation for permanent and total service-connected disability due to one of the following:
Laws Protecting Veterans With Service
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, through its regional offices, supports nationwide employment training programs for veterans with service-related injuries.
State Veteran Employment Services
The U.S. Department of Labor , through its Veterans Employment Training Service , helps support a network of local employment service representatives dedicated to assisting veterans with service-related injuries in locating and securing employment.
Veteran Service Organizations
Many of the national VSOs, such as Disabled American Veterans, AMVETS, Paralyzed Veterans Association, and Blinded Veterans Association, offer employment-related services to veterans with service-related injuries in various localities.
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What Impact Does The Eeoc Have In Providing Veterans Protection
When taking action against the private, state, or local government employers, you must file a formal discrimination claim with the EEOC. The allegation must be submitted to the local EEOC office within 180 days from the date of the suspected violation. And it needs to be either delivered by mail or in person. If the state or local anti-discrimination laws also cover charges associated with the filing, the 180-day filing period will be extended to 300 days for the anti-discrimination review.
EEOC will send you and your employer a copy of the charging paperwork and may ask you to provide responses and to support information for fact-checking. Before the formal investigation, EEOC can choose to enroll the charge into a mediation plan instead. Mediation is free, confidential, and voluntary. This process will only occur if both parties are amicable to it but can sometimes yield the most positive and least costly outcome for all involved.
The EEOC investigates charges if mediation is unsuccessful or if a charge isnt selected for mediation. If reasonable cause to suspect discrimination is found, the EEOC first seeks to work with the employer to solve the issue of discrimination.
Veterans And Military Spouses
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The federal governments hiring process is very different from the private sectors hiring process. Specifically, when applying for federal jobs, veterans are often eligible to take advantage of hiring preferences and secure employment more quickly. You must meet the following legal eligibility requirements:
- An honorable or general discharge is necessary
- Military retirees at the rank of major, lieutenant commander, or higher are not eligible unless they are disabled
- Guard and reserve personnel on active duty for training purposes do not qualify
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Housing Grants For Disabled Veterans
Certain Servicemembers and Veterans with service-connected disabilities may be entitled to a housing grant from VA to help build a new specially adapted house, to adapt a home they already own, or buy a house and modify it to meet their disability-related requirements. Eligible Veterans or Servicemembers may now receive up to three grants, with the total dollar amount of the grants not to exceed the maximum allowable. Previous grant recipients who had received assistance of less than the current maximum allowable may be eligible for an additional grant.
Specially Adapted Housing Grant: VA may approve a grant of not more than 50 percent of the cost of building, buying, or adapting existing homes or paying to reduce indebtedness on a currently owned home that is being adapted, up to a maximum of $67,555. In certain instances, the full grant amount may be applied toward remodeling costs. Veterans and Servicemembers must be determined eligible to receive compensation for permanent and total service-connected disability due to one of the following:
What Is The Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act
Originally passed in 1974, the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act aimed to provide assistance to returning Vietnam veterans and to protect them from employment discrimination. VEVRAA is one of two key federal laws prohibiting discrimination against returning veterans. The other law, the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act , was passed in 1994 and amended in 2005. Virtually all U.S. employers must comply with USERRA. Employers who are federal contractors or subcontractors must comply with VEVRAA. Though VEVRAA and USERRA are not limited to veterans disability issues, these two laws do provide protections for veterans with disabilities.
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Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act Of 1974 As Amended
The Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974, as amended prohibits job discrimination and requires federal contractors and subcontractors to take affirmative action to employ and advance in employment qualified Vietnam era veterans, special disabled veterans, recently separated veterans, and veterans who served on active duty during a war on in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized. Highlights of the Act may be found here.
Benefits For Veterans With Service
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Are you a veteran and were disabled during your service? In this article, we will explain the benefits for veterans with service-connected disabilities.
Contents
Many veterans become wounded or entirely or partially disabled during their military service, due to which they cannot continue their job. Common injuries by these veterans include loss of limb, spinal cord injury, hearing loss, post-traumatic stress disorder, burns, and others.
The Department of Veteran Affairs provides benefits and services to these veterans, spouses, and their dependent children to get proper education, health care and if needed, necessary modifications to their homes.
The Veteran Affairs uses disability ratings to measure the severity of disabilities. These ratings are on a scale of 0 to 100. A 100 percent disability rating means you are fully disabled, and you will get the maximum amount of disability compensation each month by the VA.
This article will explain the benefits for veterans with service-connected disabilities. Read on and learn more about your benefits.
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What Steps Should An Employer Take If Asking An Applicant To Self
If an employer invites applicants to voluntarily self-identify, the employer must indicate clearly and conspicuously on any written questionnaire used for this purpose, or state clearly , that:
- The information requested is intended for use solely in connection with its affirmative action obligations or its voluntary affirmative action efforts and
- The specific information is being requested on a voluntary basis, it will be kept confidential in accordance with the ADA, that refusal to provide it will not subject the employee to any adverse treatment, and that it will be used only in accordance with the ADA.
Information collected for affirmative action purposes must be kept separate from the application to ensure that confidentiality is maintained. The Code of Federal Regulations provides a Sample Invitation to Self-Identify for federal contractors who are considered covered entities under VEVRAA.
Facts About Veteran Discrimination
The Bureau of Labor Statistics says that around 3%-4% of all veterans experienced joblessness in 2019. As mentioned above, Gulf War military veterans make up the largest group of veterans and of this group, 41% experienced disability. These numbers are exceptionally high when the number sits around 25% of all other veterans. When it comes to disabled veterans the unemployment rate sits at almost 5%.
That fact indicates the difficulties disabled veterans have in the workplace, which in some cases includes employment discrimination. This may conflate the fact that Gulf War veterans struggle to get the best care to treat common problems associated with warlike traumatic brain injury and post traumatic stress disorder . According to the American Bar Association, a recent study suggests the VA is ill-equipped to handle the array of psychological and intellectual problems associated with common conditions, leading to an influx of mood disorders like major depression and other functional abnormalities that may manifest episodically in the workplace.
Key findings in a RAND study suggest that young veterans who recently separated from the military have the most trouble readjusting to the workforce, experiencing the highest unemployment levels, which may go down with time away from the military and age.
Three primary laws that deal with veteran discrimination can help veterans, including those with a service related disability, with employment discrimination issues. These are:
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What Does The Ada Do For Disabled Veterans
The basic rule of the ADA is that employers cannot treat applicants or employees differently because of a disability. This applies to all aspects of employment hiring, promoting, assigning tasks, training, firing, and more. For veterans, one example would be PTSD. It is illegal under the ADA for an employer to refuse to hire a veteran because he was diagnosed with PTSD. It is also illegal for the employer to assume that a veteran has PTSD without a diagnosis. Finally, the ADA says that employers must provide reasonable accommodation for disabled applicants and employees. An example would be making sure all parts of the employers building are accessible to everyone, including a veteran in a wheelchair.
Can Va Reduce A Rating After 10 Years
While VA cannot terminate service connection for a veterans condition after 10 years, it can still reduce the veterans disability rating.
In order for VA to reduce a disability rating under the 10-year rule, it cannot base the reduction on a single VA exam. VA must first propose the reduction based on a review of the veterans entire medical history. Any examination reports used as evidence must be based on thorough examinations.
Additionally, VA outlines the general criteria for reducing ratings in 38 CFR § 3.105, which states that a reduction may only take place if:
- There has been an actual change in the disability since the last rating decision and
- The change reflects a material improvement in the veterans ability to function under the ordinary conditions and stressors of life and work.
A veterans disability rating for a specific condition is not fully protecteduntil after the 20-year mark .
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What Laws Protect Veterans
Three major laws protecting veterans from workplace discrimination are VEVRAA, USERRA, and ADA. Early veterans rights legislation, the Rehabilitation Act, also establishes protocols for non-discriminatory hiring practices against veterans.
The Veterans Preference Act is another law that ensures hiring preference for veterans with and without disabilities from competitive lists of potential employees and specifies conditions for special noncompetitive appointments that accommodate hiring veterans.
This includes Federal agencies using hiring authorities, established by the Veterans Preference Act, to hire people with disabilities and sometimes offering preference to veterans under conditions of the law. If a veteran is looking for a job, these hiring authorities may be able to help them with placement assistance in roles that give preference to disabled veteran appointments:
Civilian Health And Medical Programs Of The Department Of Veteran Affairs
CHAMPVA is a medical benefits program in which the VA shares the cost of covered health care services with eligible beneficiaries.
It provides health coverage for your spouse and children if you are rated permanently or disabled because of a service-connected disability. I am listing some of the examples of CHAMPVA health care services. Heres a guide to CHAMPVA for caregivers.
- Ambulatory services
- Inpatient and outpatient treatment and hospitalization
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