by Cassandra Rzepa, ESGR Region 1 Chairperson
Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR) is a Department of Defense office dedicated to fostering supportive work environments for National Guard and Reserve service members. Its mission includes resolving conflicts between employers and service members, promoting awareness of applicable laws, and volunteering to encourage employer support for military service.
Idaho hosts five ESGR Regions. Region 1 covers St. Regis, Idaho, and north to the borders of Washington, Canada, and Montana. In Region 1, the ESGR team has made significant strides in reenergizing recognition and award programs, facilitating numerous businesses to sign Statements of Support, and coordinating Patriot Award presentations for civilian supervisors. The North Idaho ESGR team has been particularly active, attending local Chamber of Commerce meetings, Human Resource Network of North Idaho, and various veteran events to advocate for ESGR programs. Although Region 1 is specifically North Idaho, some of the employers have locations in North Idaho and Eastern Washington.
Employers do their part to support the National Guard and Reservists. First, by hiring them. During the Afghanistan/Iraq wars, if employers hired Guard and Reservists, they knew they’d likely lose them from the workforce for periods of time for training and deployments. Some employers offer differential pay, continue employee benefits while the soldier is deployed, send care packages, conduct outreach to the family through a deployment, and offer military leave.
Currently, employers know the Guard and Reservists would have their training weekends. Employers have to adjust their workforce scheduling for these reasons which also means other employers of the company may end up working weekends and extended shifts when the citizen-soldiers are deployed and/or have their HR Team hire temporary employees. All these create challenges for employers, supervisors, and the entire work staff.
On a national level, with a network of volunteers in all 50 states and U.S. territories, ESGR conducted over 3,300 military and employer outreach events and resolved 1,172 USERRA cases in 2023. USERRA stands for Uniformed Services Employment & Reemployment Rights Act, https://www.dol.gov/agencies/vets/programs/userra.
By engaging with over 40 veteran agencies, ESGR continues to strengthen its commitment to supporting the Reserve Components unique Federal and State military missions, and the employment and reemployment rights of service members.
For more information, please refer to your local ESGR Representatives at https://www.esgr.mil/
