The Iraq and Afghanistan theaters of war represent the largest deployment of civilian soldiers since WWII. Of the 1.5 million troops that have served, approximately one in every four is a National Guard member or a Reservist. While the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act offers legal job protections, the road back will not be an easy one for many veterans. Many have suffered profound and life-changing physical injuries; many also face less obvious wounds – Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America estimate that about one in three Iraq veterans will face a serious psychological injury, such as depression, anxiety, or PTSD:
One of the goals of any disability program is to help the injured party to recover and to return to their normal lives, including return to work. This is true whether the injury occurred in the workplace, at home, or on the battlefield. Work is not only vital for economic security, for most of us it is also a core part of our identity, an integral part of our lives. A good return to work program can be restorative on a financial, emotional, and psychological plane. Both in the short term and over the longer term, employers will play a vital role in helping veterans readjust to civilian life. This requires that employers have awareness of the many challenges that veterans face and the willingness to provide the resources to support a successful transition.These psychological injuries exact a severe toll on military families. Rates of marital stress, substance abuse, and suicide have all increased. Twenty percent of married troops in Iraq say they are planning a divorce. Tens of thousands of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans have been treated for drug or alcohol abuse. And the current Army suicide rate is the highest it has been in 26 years.
Enter the Workplace Warrior Think Tank, a coming together of The Disability Management Employer Coalition, several of the nation’s premier insurers, employers, and military and veteran participants with the purpose of helping veterans to ease the transition from the war to the workplace. The group examined challenges and opportunities facing returning employees and identified employer-based resources and strategies. The end product is a useful guide for employers, Workplace Warriors: The Corporate Response to Deployment and Reintegration Highlighting Best Practices in Human Resources and Disability Management (PDF). The guide includes a list of best practice recommendations to help returning vets reintegrate in the workplace. These include such things as celebrating the employee’s return to the workplace, recapping changes that occurred while he/she was gone, and training supervisors to be aware of certain red flags that might indicate a problem. The group also emphasizes that the availability of effective EAP services can be critical to successfully helping veterans to face the many psychological problems that are common in the aftermath of war service.
It’s great to hear about the efforts of the think tank and their recommendations for employers – please help to distribute the guide and raise the issue because as the report notes, “Repercussions and delayed effects of the war experience will be felt in the workplace for decades to come.” Hopefully, this will be the first step in many by leaders in our industry to dedicate resources and attention to this important issue.
For more information and resources:
The Corporate Response to Deployment and Reintegration – this is the full report from Workplace Warriors, available through DMEC.
Wounded Warriors is a blog that collects veterans coverage from the McClatchy Washington Bureau, McClatchy Newspapers, and other sources. It’s a good source of news for items that affect returning vets and their families.
Resources for returning veterans and their families – from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration.
Veterans and Military Health – from MedlinePlus
Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America – since 2004, the nation’s first and largest group dedicated to the Troops and Veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the civilian supporters of those Troops and Veterans.
Tags: Afghanistan, Disability, iraq, ptsd, veterans, war