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Moving through an agenda of four bills on Friday, the House Veterans Affairs Economic Opportunity Subcommittee approved a bill requiring the Labor Department to issue a report on employment complaints by veterans with combat-related disabilities.

The bill (H.R. 1632) sailed through the subcommittee, being approved by voice vote. Sponsored by Rep. Dave Reichert, Wash., the bill requires the secretary of Labor to issue a yearly report to Congress containing data on complaints filed by reservists and National Guard members on reemployment issues.

The bill would also require the secretary to share the data with the departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs, and the attorney general. The agencies would come up with a uniform system of collecting complaints. The report would specifically track re-employment difficulties among veterans who have combat-related disabilities.

Currently, the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act ensures that veterans returning from active duty be restored to their original jobs with the same seniority and benefits. According to Reichert, from fiscal 2004-fiscal 2006, the departments of Labor and Defense addressed nearly 16,000 complaints, but because of poor information sharing between the two departments, only a very small percentage of complaints were reported to Congress.

"This lack of information sharing and coordination prevents Congress from receiving the complete, accurate picture of Reservists' hiring difficulties that we need in order to best address them," Reichert said in testimony during a House Veterans Affairs Economic Opportunity Subcommittee hearing earlier this year.

The subcommittee adopted an amendment to the bill, offered by Rep. John Hall, D-N.Y. Hall's amendment increased the number of members of the Advisory Committee on Veterans Employment, Training and Employer Outreach from 15 to 16, with the additional member being from the National Governors Association.

COMMENTS

• I have completed over 6-8 applications since February 06, and to date I was notified once that I was elegible for the position; however the position was filled. I cannot understand why I have not even been offered an interview or told of the reasons why as I remain unemployed. Alma Claudia Bowen (Fisher) Posted January 10, 2008 1:18 PM
• I have been trying to get a job with the VA via USA jobs. I found a few I felt qualified for and began the tedious process of getting and preparing my resume and needed documents. I am a USAF retired vet of 20 years and received a disabled vet status upon retirement. When I applied for my first job, Mental Health associate, (GS-8) I was given a 95 score in the listing. I received an interview and am currently going through the pre-employment process. However, I also applied for a postion as an Alcohol/Drug Rehab tech (G-9) and was found ineligible. The problem is my experience and skills is as equal if not more than the position I was hired in. The Delegated Exam Unit (DEU) sent me my notification letter and I received it in 24 November 2007. The last open period end date was 24 August. I called them on at least 3 occassions and the last time I talked with them was about a month ago. I know they never got to my application since they had a hard time finding it and the examiner told me she was going to process it within a week. That was about a month ago. How can anyone get a fair shake on any employment if they don't even process an application on time and decide your not eligible since they already sent out letters of consideration and I'm months behind the other applicants. I know some of the examiners work hard at doing their jobs, but I can't help thinking some just don't care and only punch the clock to get paid. That's the difference with ex-military. We work hard and give 110 percent. We don't punch clocks since the government owned us and trained us to be ready 24/7 for duty/work. Ernest Erickson Posted November 25, 2007 2:22 PM
• See my post on the above post about the State problem. This happens all the time at our VA. If management wants a buddy to get a job they will bend all the rules to put that person in the job. A case in point was when they needed to hire a Patient Representative position. Now this is a VA Hospital and 99% of our patients are male and all are Vets. Even though 3 male veterans who were currently employed here applied, a female who was not a Vet was hired. She had less education than some of the males and had indicated she didn't want to work in an environment where bad language and confrontation was a issue. Now how can a non veteeran female relate to veterans since they are male and she has never served? How can these veterans feel comfortable talking to her? Oh well what do you expect of a VA who promotes a high school grad into a GS 14 Assoc.Director job? SATOS Posted July 3, 2007 7:26 AM