GIGO: Gaps in Database Systems Leave Reservists’ Job Protections at Risk

The US Congress passed the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) of 1994, ensuring that National Guard and Reserve members’ civilian careers were protected when they are called for military duty. Now, an Oct 20, 2005 Government Accountability Office report notes that less than 20% of the Army Reserve and Marine Corps Reserve have entered their employer information in the DOD database, and that information sharing between federal agencies responsible for notification and enforcement is almost nonexistent. This is not an uncommon situation in many military, business, and government organizations. As a result, however: “GAO analysis of 52 complaints that had been closed and reopened two or more times found that recorded processing times averaged 103 days but the actual elapsed times that service members waited to have their complaints fully addressed averaged 619 days…” Read the rest of the Federal Computer Week article, or for a special DID feature read the full GAO report directly.