OT- How Sears Treats Our Reservists...

[Mark Hulette]

This is a message I received from a friend that I thought most on this forum would have an interest in. I have not checked the accuracy of this statement.


IT IS ALL ABOUT HOW YOU TREAT THE PROTECTORS OF OUR LAND.

I assume you have all seen the reports about how Sears is treating its reservist employees who are called up? By law, they are required to hold their jobs open and available, but nothing more.

Usually, people take a big pay cut and lose benefits as a result of being called up...

Sears is voluntarily paying the difference in salaries and
maintaining all benefits, including medical insurance and bonus
programs, for all called up reservist employees for up to two years.

I submit that Sears is an exemplary corporate citizen and should be recognized for its contribution.

I suggest if we shop at Sears, be sure to find a manager to
tell them why we are there so the company gets the positive reinforcement it well deserves.


Disclaimer: Again this is from a friend and I have not checked the accuracy of this statement. I am not affliliated with Sears in any way, shape or form. In times such as this, I try to support companies that support our troops.

May God Bless our Troops and America!
Mark

[Lee Schierer]

I worked for three different Companies while I was in Reserves. All three paid me the difference between my regular pay and my reserve pay. All three carried my benefits for the duration of my active duty each year. Only once in 21 years of reserve duty did an employer ask if I could postpone a 2 week training period.


I'm sure there are many good companies out there supporting our troops.

[Mark Hulette]

Lee-
Is that a fairly standard thing? Did the other folks in your unit receive the same treatment from their employers? I wasn't aware of other companies doing this. I think it's awesome that they go above and beyond what's "required"

Mark

PS- thanks for serving!

[Mike Brewster]

Mark,

I'm not Lee, but as a current supervisor in the reserve system I feel qualified to comment. The short answer to your question is no. It is not common to have the differance in pay matched.

There are companies that do so, but they are by far in the minority. The levels of support vary a great deal. Some will make up the differance for a short period of time, some will keep benifits packages intact and some will do nothing. There are a few on the low end of the scale that will make it hard to get your job back. Those are fortunately the smallest minority. I've never had a reservist that worked for me have trouble keeping a job because of his participation, but I know of people who have.

I didn't deploy this time, but I just sent many from my unit off a few weeks ago. Some are collage kids that will actually make more money but put off thier educations for a while and others took significant cuts in pay to go on active duty. There are many that will do well to avoid bankruptcy if they are activated for an extended period. There are laws that help and provide for reduced interest rates, help in ending leases and that will delay legal actions against an activated member, but they only do so much. The reduced cash flow can be a bear.

Today our military cannot operate without the reserve and the National Guard. They make up somewhere around 48% of the total force. The reserves provide the majority of the support functions and a significant portion of the combat power that is available. There is NEVER a day that Reservists are not deployed somewhere in both combat and support roles.

Sorry for the length,
Mike

[Mark Hulette]

Mike-
Thanks for the information. Didn't realize that the Guard and Reserves made up 48% of the fighting force.

May God protect these men & women and comfort their families as they go in harm's way. Thank you, too, for serving.

Mark

[James Mudler]

I am in HR and was reading a article on this topic on this web site http://www.esgr.org/ .

There is a list of companies (somewhere) that are paying the difference between regular pay and reserve pay.

EDIT: found it http://www.esgr.org/employers/outstandingEmployers.asp