Firms That Back Reserves May Need Help

As the country becomes increasingly dependent on citizen-soldiers to support the active duty military, employers are probably going to require more incentives so that hiring people with National Guard or Reserve obligations is seen as a benefit, and not a potentially losing proposition.
 
Some companies already go beyond the law when it comes to their reservist employees, said David Miller, vice president for Global Policy and Economic Sustainability for Con-way Inc., a freight transportation company based in California. These companies not only commit to guarantying a reservist's job when he or she returns, but help to take care of the families -- perhaps by continuing medical coverage - while the spouse is deployed.

Some employers also continue to absorb the costs for a deployed worker's professional licensing, in addition to costs associated with hiring and training a new worker to do the citizen-soldier's job, Miller told Military.com April 22 during a discussion with military bloggers.
 
Discussion surrounded the Employer Partnership Initiative (http://www.usar.army.mil/arweb/EPI/Pages/default.aspx), the brainchild of Lt. Gen. Jack C. Stultz, chief of the Army Reserve, who has been building the program as a way to help sustain the reserve force while also linking employers to reservists who have in-demand skills. Col. Dianna Cleven, chief operating officer for the program, said that nearly 300 employers have so far signed onto the partnership, making their company job postings available and viewable to reservists looking for work.
 
A listing of employers on the EPI Web page includes many of the usual defense-related companies, but also lists medical companies, county sheriff's departments, retailers and more.
 
Cleven said the program is now picking up an average of one new employer each day.
 
But with the growing dependency on the reserves to back the active duty force -- including for long and repeat deployments -- employers will need some back up too.
 
"For those employers that go beyond the minimum required by law, there should be action taken in the Congress to provide tax credits to companies that do these things," Miller said. As the military is more dependent on the reserves, he said, you can't expect employers to absorb these costs without tax considerations.
 
Currently there is no legislation offering such credits, he said, but some lawmakers have approached employers out of concern for reservists and have asked for ideas on how Washington can be more supportive, he said.