Dear Annie:
My brother is in the Army Reserves and, after a yearlong tour of duty in Iraq, got rotated home a couple of weeks ago. He was expecting to return to his old job with a small local company that has run into financial trouble. He was told that his whole department had been eliminated while he was gone, so he is now unemployed. Is that legal? I thought I read somewhere that people serving in the military can't be laid off while away on duty, but does that law apply only to big companies?
-- Startled Sis

Dear Sis:
What you must have read about is the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Act (USERRA). The law has been on the books since 1994, but on December 10, 2004, President Bush signed amendments to it that increased employers' responsibilities toward returning military personnel. "USERRA applies to all employers, no matter what size, whether public or private sector," says Ashley Kaplan, a head of the labor law team at G. Neil, a Florida human resources consulting firm that specializes in legal issues. USERRA requires companies to rehire soldiers in their original jobs, or in jobs with comparable status and pay.

Particularly tricky for employers is USERRA's so-called escalator principle, Kaplan says. This holds that an employee who comes back from active duty is entitled to seniority that is "not at the level where he was when he left, but at the (higher) level he most likely would have reached had he stayed on the job." Likewise, if vacation time and other benefits (such as pension vesting) are based on years of service, then these have to be calculated for returning military personnel as if these folks had been working at the company all along.

But -- and this is a big but -- USERRA has its limits and it seems your brother has run smack up against them. The law's guarantee of reemployment doesn't apply, Kaplan says, "if workplace conditions have changed so radically that reemployment would be 'impossible' or 'unreasonable.'" The downside of the escalator principle is that, "if a soldier's job has been eliminated in a downsizing, the employer isn't required to create a new one." In other words, since everyone else in his department has been let go, the assumption is that your brother, if he'd been there at the time, would have been too. So now he shares his former colleagues' fate. That's a tough thing to come home to, for sure, but it is legal. Here's hoping he finds work quickly, perhaps with a company that favors veterans.

Dear Annie:
I just read your columns from a few months ago on how to make the most of a mentor, and the advice rang true to my experience as a (female) manager in big companies. Now that I've started my own business, I'm doing pretty well, but I've often wished I had someone more experienced to talk to. Any ideas on where business owners can find mentors?
-- Flying Solo

Dear Flying:
I'm assuming you've joined some local business groups, right? The Chamber of Commerce in your town would be a good place to start. If that isn't helping, you might try Ladies Who Launch (http://www.ladieswholaunch.com). It's a nationwide network of women business owners, with about 50,000 subscribers who trade tips and insights online. The group is just now starting in-person workshops for female business owners in cities across the U.S. Check it out!

Many thanks to all of you who wrote to comment on the best companies for people over 50, including those of you who have had rotten experiences at some of those the AARP designated "best." Clearly, even those employers who made the list aren't perfect. One that isn't on the list but should be, according to reader Terry Day, of Delray Beach, Fla., is Starbucks. "I have been with Starbucks part time for over 4 years (since I retired)," Day writes. "The company provides stock, decent wages, vacation pay, complete medical coverage that includes dental and vision insurance -- and I work an average of 20 hours a week. Perhaps you should contact the AARP and tell them they need to talk to Starbucks." Another reader, signed simply Larry, has these words of advice for hiring managers everywhere: "Don't assume that we (people over 50) will cost more than you want to pay; after all, we are applying for the job. Don't assume that the younger guy or gal will stay longer than we will. If we've got eight to 10 working years left, chances are we'll want to spend it all in one place, while the younger person may switch jobs two or three times in that period." Hear, hear!

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