Why it Matters

The federal government is struggling to protect service members from workplace discrimination and retaliation when they return from military duty.

A new Government Accountability Office report released this week reveals that complaints about violations of the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act have surged to record levels, even as the agency tasked with investigating them has lost staff and faces systemic challenges in helping service members understand their legal protections.

The stakes are direct: service members who serve their country are losing jobs or facing hostile work environments upon returning to civilian employment, and the system designed to defend them is fraying at the seams. The surge in complaints, combined with staffing cuts, creates a dangerous gap between the demand for protections and the government's capacity to deliver them.

The Big Picture

The numbers tell a stark story. The Department of Labor's Veterans' Employment and Training Service received a record 1,380 USERRA complaints in fiscal year 2025, continuing an upward trajectory that has held steady for years. Between fiscal years 2021 and 2025, VETS closed a total of 5,433 complaints, with the volume climbing each year to reach its peak in the most recent fiscal year.

This surge arrives at the worst possible time. Even as complaints have climbed, VETS experienced a 23 percent reduction in complaint investigation staffing levels in fiscal year 2025. The staffing cuts mean investigators are stretched thinner while the workload expands, creating bottlenecks in a system that already struggles to meet service members' needs.

Despite the staffing crunch, VETS has managed to close complaints within 90 days on average, which aligns with the general timeframe specified in statute. But speed alone does not solve the underlying problem: service members do not understand their rights or how to prove violations.

Gaps in Accessing Rights

The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 provides employment and reemployment protections for service members, and they can file complaints with VETS if they believe their employer has violated those rights. Yet the system for educating service members about these protections is fragmented and inadequate.

VETS provides numerous resources on its website regarding USERRA, but investigators themselves say the resources fall short. The resources are optional, and navigating the large number of available materials could be challenging for some service members trying to understand whether they have a case. This creates a fundamental access problem: service members may not know they have protections, or they may not understand what evidence they need to prove a violation.

The problem extends to how VETS trains its own staff. Regional offices in two of the three regions interviewed by GAO developed their own training because recurring training from VETS's national office does not meet their needs. Those region-specific training activities differed in focus and frequency, suggesting inconsistency in how investigators across the country are equipped to handle these cases.

The Data

The outcome data raises questions about whether service members are getting a fair shake. Approximately 10 percent of total USERRA complaints closed between fiscal years 2021 and 2025 were classified as "not eligible," totaling 540 complaints. Another 30 percent were classified as "not substantiated," totaling 1,632 complaints.

The most common reasons for closing complaints are administrative reasons, such as service members choosing not to pursue the complaint or complaints not substantiated by evidence. This pattern suggests that many service members either lack the resources or evidence to pursue their claims or they give up along the way. Without better access to information about their rights and the evidence needed to prove violations, service members may abandon legitimate claims simply because they do not know how to proceed.

The Bottom Line

The Department of Labor's Fiscal Year 2026–2030 Strategic Plan includes a strategy for VETS to educate service members and others on their employment rights, signaling federal awareness that the current approach is insufficient.

The GAO report, released on June 16 made two recommendations directed to the Department of Labor's Secretary of Labor. The first calls for VETS to review its existing USERRA resources and identify and implement options to streamline or modify them to help individuals better understand their potential eligibility under USERRA and the evidence needed to show a violation. The second recommendation asks VETS's national office to assess investigator training needs and take steps to address those needs, including soliciting input from investigators themselves.

The Department of Labor concurred with both recommendations, indicating willingness to act. Both recommendations currently remain in "Open" status, meaning implementation is still underway. This is where the rubber meets the road: whether VETS can actually streamline its resources and strengthen its training before the next surge of complaints arrives.

The report was mandated by a provision in the Senator Elizabeth Dole 21st Century Veterans Healthcare and Benefits Improvement Act, reflecting congressional concern about service member protections. But mandates and recommendations mean little if VETS lacks the staffing and resources to execute them effectively. The agency is being asked to do more with less, and service members are paying the price.

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