The biggest problem in managing a business during war time is the uncertainty. That's nothing new. Uncertainty is the biggest problem a business manager faces every day. Usually it's uncertainty over what your competitors are doing; what new product they will release and when; will there be any disruptions in the supply of the materials you need; will interest rates rise too fast so you can't buy the new machine you need?
In war time, with respect to the employees who have left for military service, the questions become should I hire a replacement or work everyone on overtime; do I need a contractor on temporary assignment or should I hire a fill-in employee; can I find someone with the same skills as the person who left; is there anyone ready to move up to fill the vacancy?
It is important to remember the reemployment rights guaranteed your employees on military service by the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA), which we discussed . Beyond that, however, you have a business to run and fewer trained people to do the work.
Covering The Missing Employees
The law requires that you treat employees on military duty as on furlough or leave of absence. This applies whether they volunteer or are called up. However, USERRA guarantees these employees certain reemployment rights, which we will look at in detail in . You need to carefully track which positions were vacated by employees going on military duty as well as which employees left those positions.
If your company offers COBRA insurance to employees on other leaves of absence, employees on military leave of absence will have the same coverage.
Hiring Replacements
You must decided, for each vacated position, whether to hire a replacement employee, bring on a contractor or other temporary worker, or make up the difference with overtime. Obviously, you can adjust your decision as circumstances warrant. For example, you may decide to have others in that employee's work group work overtime to pick up the slack while you look for a replacement employee. Or you may decide that the war may be avoided at the last minute and the troops sent home within months, so you just contract for a temporary worker through an agency. If you expect the war to last a long time, you may decide to hire a replacement employee.
Whatever you decide, it's appropriate to tell the replacement worker up front that their employment is only until the employee returns from military duty. It's also a good idea to explain to the other employees in the work group how you plan to fill the gap left by the employee on military duty.
Depending on your business, you may see an increase in workload from the war or related events. For instance, About.com Guide Susan Ward, suggests companies that produce emergency preparedness kits or other types of survival gear will see increased business in times when there is a threat of war. If this is the case for your business, you may need to hire more employees than just replacements, but be sure to track the position that "belongs" to the employee on military leave of absence.
Watch Out For The Escalator
In the we will cover in detail the reemployment rights of the returning employee. It is important to note, however, that the employee is not just entitled to the job he left. Because of the "escalator clause" of USERRA, the employee needs to be returned to the position he would have been in if not for military service, even if it is a higher position than he left. For this reason, you need to track, not just the position of the employee on military leave of absence, but also all similar or related positions.
For example, if you have four customer service reps and one of them goes on military duty you will need to track all four. Let's say A goes to war. B, C, and D continue working. You hire E to replace A. While A is away, an opening for a supervisor occurs. You promote B, the best of your remaining workers, to the supervisor position. If, however, A is better qualified than B, and would have been promoted had he not been on military duty, you will have to reemploy A in a supervisory position.
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