I. Introduction

Section 206 of the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 (“CAA”) incorporates rights and protections relating to veterans’ employment and reemployment. 2 U.S.C. § 1316. These rights are derived from the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (“USERRA”). Additionally, section 4(c) of the CAA applies certain provisions of the Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (“VEOA”) to legislative branch employees and employing offices. 2 U.S.C. § 1316a.

The primary goal of the VEOA is to provide hiring preferences to veterans seeking federal employment. USERRA provides reemployment rights to service members who leave their jobs for military service and to protect covered individuals from discrimination and retaliation based on their military service.

This outline provides an overview of salient features of USERRA and the VEOA as applied to the legislative branch through the CAA and related noteworthy case law. The outline also discusses the military-specific provisions of the Family and Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”) and the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (“SCRA”) provisions applicable to Office of Compliance (“OOC”) proceedings.

II. Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 in the Legislative Branch

The CAA applies several VEOA rights and protections to the legislative branch. 2. U.S.C. § 1316a. Specifically, the VEOA rights in sections 2108, 3309 through 3312, and 3501 through 3504 of title 5 of the United States Code apply to certain covered employees within the legislative branch.

The VEOA was enacted to provide that consideration may not be denied to “preference eligibles” applying for certain positions in the competitive service. The VEOA grants certain preferences to veterans who seek federal employment; in addition, the legislative history of the VEOA makes clear that there was a need for a uniform redress provision through which veterans could seek adjudication of alleged violations of veterans’ preferences. Thus, the VEOA provide preference-eligible veterans with a method for seeking redress where their veterans’ preference rights have been violated in hiring decisions made by the federal government.