Transcript Slide 1

Vermont
Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve
And the Vermont State HR Council
Workforce Readiness Initiative:
Mission Possible!
Putting our Heroes (back) to Work
Why Are We Here?
• Vermont SHRM Council’s Workforce Readiness
Initiative for 2011- 2012
• What is Workforce Readiness? Ensure that today’s and
tomorrow’s workforce or workplace:
 has the skills, competencies and behaviors in order to succeed
in today’s and tomorrow’s workplace.
 maximizes the potential of today’s and tomorrow’s workforce
• Vermont veterans need our support in helping them reenter the civilian workforce after serving our country.
• Post-9-11 (and all) veterans will continue to make up a
substantial element of the workforce
Hire Our Heroes Video (You-Tube)
Hire Our Heroes
Situational Update
• VT ARNG 86 Brigade soldiers returned Dec 10-Jan
11
• VT ANG 158th FW airmen returned Spring-Fall 2011
• Many reservists deploy individually
• We (Vermonters) still have global presence in Africa,
Macedonia, and many other areas
• Currently about 200 recently-returning veterans are
out of work
• Active military are returning from Iraq and leaving the
service looking for jobs as well
The Value of Hiring a Vet
• Veterans bring valuable skills & experience to the hiring
equation.
• In the military, men and women undergo extensive
training that teaches them how to:
 Hold positions of leadership even at a relatively young
age
 Handle problems, resolve issues, multitask, and work in
teams
 Work in positions of intense stress and pressure, while
maintaining composure & focus
 Work within a tight budget & stretch limited resources
 Work and live with a wide variety of people & be sensitive
to other cultures
The Value of Hiring a Vet
• Interested in education and self-development
• Challenges to employment of veterans:
 Usually will not “blow their own horn”
 May have a hard time explaining and/or translating their
military experience so that HR/hiring managers understand
what they’ve done (and their potential to the organization)
 Employers concerns and misconceptions about PTSD
 Translation of military experience to a written resume or
interview
Translating Military
Skills and Experience
• Bridging acronyms and “military-speak”
• O*Netonline.org
• Military.com
• The “whole” person
• Contact VT ESGR
• “Peeling the Onion”
• Understanding the context for Enlisted, NCO, Officer
The Value of Hiring a Vet
Hire a Vet and qualify for a tax credit
 WOTC (Work Opportunity Tax Credit) at Federal and State level (thru 2012)
Vermont Law
$2,000 max tax credit if hiring an unemployed veteran
for new hire May 24, 2011 to Dec. 31, 2012
Min. 35 hours/week and must hold for 45 of 52 weeks
following the hire
http://veterans.vermont.gov/transitions/taxcredit
The Value of Hiring A Vet
Federal Law - Returning Heroes & Wounded Warrior
Tax Credits
• The Veterans Opportunity to Work (VOW) to Hire Heroes
Act of 2011:
• Food stamp eligibility (SNAP)
• Disabled vets - wage cap of first $24,000, max tax credit
of $4,800
• Disabled vets - unemployed for at least 6 months, wage
cap of first $24,000 and max tax credit $9,600
The Value of Hiring A Vet
VOW cont
Vets unemployed for at least 4 weeks - wage cap of
first $6,000, max. tax credit of 40% - $2,400
Vets unemployed for at least 6 months - wage cap of
first $14,000, max. tax credit of 40% - $5,600
501 (c) organizations can now participate
Provisions effective Nov. 22, 2011 – Dec. 31, 2012
http://www.gibillmagazine.com/fact-sheet-returningheroes-and-wounded-warrior-tax-credits.html
Facts
About Returning Vets
• Not all are impacted negatively
• Each person stands as its own case
• For many, not any different than one’s
involvement in any other major life trauma
events
• Not everything will manifest itself early on
• TBI and PTSD are treatable, and other realities
TBI, PTSD, and
Clarifying Myths
Joe Nusbaum, Brain Injury Association of
Vermont (BIA-VT)
Joe Nusbaum
Veterans Job Developer
In the United States, at least
1.4 million sustain a
concussion each year
(That we know about)



51,000 die
290,000 are hospitalized
1,224,000 million are treated and
released from an emergency
department
All concussions are TBIs

Traumatic Brain Injury is an insult to
the brain caused by an external
physical force

Acquired Brain Injury is an insult to
the brain that has occurred after
birth, for example; TBI, stroke, near
suffocation, infections in the brain,
anoxia
Scope of the Problem

Distribution of Severity:
 Mild injuries = 80%
Loss of Consciousness (LOC)< 30 min, Post
Traumatic Amnesia (PTA) ,1 hour
 Moderate = 10 - 13%
(LOC 30 min-24 hours, PTA 1-24 hours)
 Severe = 7 - 10%
(LOC >24 hours, PTA >24 hours)
BIAVT


Toll free help-line
Neuro-Resource Facilitation
 Facilitate interdependence to maximize
individual’s potential
 Veteran Job Developer and Outreach


BI Support Groups
Education




Newsletter
Prevention
Outreach
Resource Library
The Individual-Centered Team
Siblings Case Manager Life Skills Aide
Parents
TBI Waiver
Director
Recreation
Therapist
Neuropsychologist
Physical
Therapist
Psychologist
Occupational
Therapist
Individual with TBI
Medical
Consultants
Speech
Pathologist
Nutritionist
Social Worker
Caregiver
Vocational
Specialist Physician
18
Employer
Children
Spouse
Physiatrist
The Team and Their Roles
Anytime, Anyone, Anywhere
 Job
 Income
 Health
 Personality
 Lifestyle
 Hobbies
 Activities
 Social connection
 Community
connection
 Sense of self
The New Normal

Living a New Life

Failing in the Old
Life
Diagnosis is key
 Unidentified
traumatic brain
injury is an unrecognized
major source of social and
vocational failure”
Wayne Gordon, Ph.D of the Brain Injury
Research Center at Mount Sinai School of
Medicine
Physical Impairments








Balance, Mobility
Motor Coordination
Sensory Loss- smell, taste, touch
Hearing or Vision Impairment
Spasticity/Tremors
Speech
Fatigue/Weakness
Seizures
Cognitive Impairments






Memory
Attention
Concentration
Processing
Aphasia/receptive
and expressive
language
Decision making,
judgment







Executive skills
Problem solving,
sequencing
Planning, organizing
Self-Perception
Perception
Inflexibility
Persistence
A memory deficit might look like trouble
remembering or it might look like……

She frequently misses appointments

He says he’ll do something but doesn’t get around
to it

She talks about the same thing or asks the same
question over and over

He invents plausible sounding answers so you
won’t know he doesn’t remember
An attention deficit might look like trouble
paying attention or it might look like …

He keeps changing the subject

She doesn’t complete tasks

He has a million things going on and none of
them ever gets completed

When she tries to do two things at once she gets
confused and upset
Executive Function








Awareness
Planning
Setting goals
Self-initiation
Self-inhibiting
Self-Monitoring
Ability to change set
Strategic Behavior
A deficit in executive skills might look like the
inability to plan and organize or it might look
like....

Insensitivity, rudeness

Covering up problems

Big difference in what he thinks and what
everyone else thinks about his behavior

Blaming others for problems

Doesn’t think she needs supports
A deficit in executive skills might look like the
inability to plan and organize or it might look
like...

Uncooperativeness

Lack of follow through

Laziness

Irresponsibility

Overconfidence
Structure
is what
enables people with
brain injuries to do
what they need to do.
Veteran Job
Development at BIA
 Department of Labor Grant
 Created employment-focused neuro-resource
facilitation services for Veterans suffering the effects
from concussion
Mission of the BIA VT Job Developer
 Outreach to VT Businesses
 Job placement and retention of Veterans with TBI
Referral Network for Veterans
BIA Job Developer
Referral Network for Veterans
Veterans in
Vermont
 10% of Vermonters are Veterans (approx 66k)
 1,500+ Veterans returned in the last year
 20% of returning Veterans report prior concussion
 19% of returning Veterans meet criteria for PTSD
A recent survey of deployed Guard
cited EMPLOYMENT as the top
concern of returning soldiers.
TBI in the
Workplace
MYTHS about Employees with TBI:
 Employees with TBI cannot perform as well as other
employees
Employees with TBI cannot be fired, regardless of
performance
Employees with TBI cannot handle full
workloads
Employees with TBI require expensive
accommodations
 Employees with TBI make other employees feel
uncomfortable
Certain Conditions Can Help Veterans with
TBI Reintegrate in the Workplace
 Repeating Schedules & Routine Tasks
 Sequential Steps
 Flexible work
 Jobs with slow periods
 Part-Time/Shorter work days
 Cognitive and/or physical breaks
 Quiet, clutter-free, and low light work environments
 Limited Distractions
 Support and Feedback
 Predictable Work Problems
BIAVT
• Toll free help-line:
1-877-856-1772
How You can best
Support your Citizen Soldier
• Remember s/he may still be in a reintegration
process
• Communication! Ask them about their
experiences
• Learn about their preferences in returning to
work
• Give them space and allow time
• Let them know you’re interested and open to
talking
Laws that Protect Vets
• The Uniformed Services Employment &
Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA)
• Military Family Entitlements under FMLA
• The Veterans Employment Opportunities Act
• State of Vermont, NH, and NY Statutes for
State Active Duty
USERRA
• Guaranteed* return to previous job or one that they
would have held had they not been placed on military
service (escalator)
• Return to equivalent position rank/ seniority, pay, and
status
• Immediate reinstatement of benefits
• Service time counts towards vesting or service
requirements
• Members of respective “reserves” of the various
armed forces covered same as members of the Guard
*provided they fulfill requirements of USERRA
Family
Military Leave Entitlements
• FMLA changes – January 2009
• Critical exigency – covered/eligible/7
conditions for max of a total of 12 weeks
FML
• Caregiver – 26 weeks (taken concurrent
with FMLA and combined total of FMLA
not to exceed 26 weeks)
Who to Contact
• Your organizational EAP
• Vermont Guard Military Family Life
Consultant (802-338-3000)
• VT Brain Injury Association of Vermont
• Vermont Voc Rehab
Action Steps
• Sign an Employer Statement of Support today
• Register jobs with www.VermontJobLink.com (VDOL)
• Register jobs with www.H2H.jobs (no charge!)
• Review Lisa Rosser’s guide for HR Professionals as well as Hiring
America’s Heroes
http://www.thevalueofaveteran.com/hiring_guide.html (Code vtesgr)
• Establish a company military hiring strategy
http://www.americasheroesatwork.gov/forEmployers/HiringToolkit
• Sign up with VT ESGR to be a career coach for our veterans – contact
Pamela Brown at: [email protected]
Thank You!
• To over 50 HR professionals from around the
state who participated as job search coaches
this past year during our Career Skills & Small
Business Workshops!
• To all organizations who supported deployed
Guard/Reserve members and their loved ones!
• To the employers who supported citizen soldiers
activated to respond to Tropical Storm Irene
Serving Our Nation…
Together!
We ALL Serve!