Montana ESGR
Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR) is an agency of the Department of Defense designed to develop and promote a culture in which all American employers support and value the military service of their employees with ESGR as the principal advocate within the Department of Defense.
The mission of ESGR is to gain and maintain employer support for National Guard and Reserve service by:
- Advocating relevant initiatives
- Recognizing outstanding support
- Increasing awareness of the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA)
- Resolving conflict between employers and service members through mediation.
- Connecting Reserve component members with job resources.
ESGR operates through a network of thousands of volunteers throughout 50 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Each state and territory has their own volunteers and paid support staff who work to provide free education, consultation, and if necessary mediation for employers of Guard and Reserve and their civilian employers. Montana has over 30 volunteers located across the state. The program has been in existence since 1972.
The combination of all National Guard and Reserve forces from all branches of the military are referred to as the Reserve component.
Today, the Reserve component total over 1.3 million service members and represent 48% of the total US Military. Therefore, employer cooperation and understanding is imperative – especially when an employee is called upon to serve. Currently there are approximately 6,000 members of the Reserve component in Montana.
