Event Details

Veterans', Employers & USERRA

As HR professionals and employers we often employ Veterans in our businesses. When these Veterans have issues, it would be the rare HR Manager who could have an intelligent conversation about their benefits. We just assume that the Veteran knows what they need to know and what is available to them through the "system". Well, let me tell you, that is not the case. Many Veterans learn about their benefits and rights from buddies and newspapers. Let’s do a better job of helping our disabled veterans get the health care that they need and the financial support that they have earned. It may be as simple as knowing who to refer them to or as complicated as having a conversation about what they may be entitled to.

Eddie Abrams, Shannon Langley and John Concepcion will talk about the Purpose and Structure of Veteran's Administration. They will review the details of how a Veteran qualifies for benefits, what those benefits are and how they can be encouraged to gain access to them. They will describe the structure of the VA and how it provides health care services to our Veteran employees and talk about what Veteran Pension is and how much it is worth, how spouses are handled and where they can get support. Please join us in this discussion.

Date:                            Thursday, July, 17, 2014

Networking:                  7:30 am to 8:00 am

Workshop Time:           8:00 am to 9:30 am

HRCI Credit:                1.5 BUSINESS- Strategic  HRCI credits awarded

RSVP To:                    Tanya Haakinson thaakinson@sierrapine.com

About the Presenters:   

Eddie Abrams is the Assistant Director at U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), Veterans Employment and Training Services (VETS) in Oregon. DOL VETS mission is to proudly serve veterans and service members by providing employment resources and expertise to assist and prepare them to obtain meaningful careers, maximize their employment opportunities, and protect their employment rights. Mr. Abrams investigates veteran’s employment complaints (such as veteran’s preference, veteran’s discrimination, reemployment rights, and retaliation cases) filed under Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA). Additionally, he evaluates and monitors State Workforce Agency (SWA) employment and training services to eligible veterans to assess the level and quality of services to veterans.   Furthermore, he monitors Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program (HVRP) grantees that provide employment related services to veterans. His military experience includes:  Active Army – 82nd Airborne Infantry 3^rd Battalion, Oregon National Guard – Executive Officer, B Company 141 Support Battalion and Forward Logistics Officer (deployed to Afghanistan). His education includes: MBA from Keller Graduate School of Management (with distinction), Bachelor degree in Human Resource Management from Portland State University, and a Bachelor degree in Business Management from Linfield College (magna cum laude).

Shannon Langley is the State Veterans Program Coordinator for the Oregon Employment Department – WorkSource.  Shannon works in conjunction with  the DOL VETS program to ensure that eligible veterans and their spouses receive the services and employment guidance necessary to overcome employment barriers and find gainful, living wage employment. Shannon performs program analysis, and provides guidance and training to 22 Disabled Veterans Outreach Program Specialist (DVOPs) and 2 Local Veterans Employment Representatives (LVERs) at multiple worksource locations. She also helps to ensure that each DVOP and LVER  builds meaningful relationships with employers and provides employment and case management services to 1,000s of eligible veterans throughout the state of Oregon.  Her military experience includes: Active Army: 12^th Chemical Company, 1^st Infantry Brigade – Decontamination Specialist & C Company, 50^th Signal Battalion, 35^th Signal Brigade, 18th Airborne Corps  - Battalion Nuclear, Biological and Chemical training supervisor & Battalion Training Sergeant. Her Education Includes: Graduated Summa Cum Laude from Washington State University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Personnel Psychology and Human Resource Management.

John is the Local Veterans Employment Representative for the State of Oregon.  He is only one of two with that title that works with employers to advocate in the hiring of Oregon Veterans.  He is also the Federal Contractor Job Listing Monitor (FCJL) and works closely with the Office of Federal Contractors Compliance Program (OFCCP).  He works with employers who have a federal contract(s) and have 50 or more employees and a contract of $100,000 or more with the federal government.   He has helped employers understand the new Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA) that recently had major changes to the compliance program that went into effect March 24^th 2014. After receiving a low lottery number for the draft in 1970 he joined the Air Force.  He is a Vietnam Vet and flew combat missions over Vietnam in 1972 to 1973 and was awarded the Air Medal for his performance as an Aircraft Loadmaster.  He was honorably discharged in 1992 after a 22 year career with the Air Force and was hired by the Oregon Employment Department in February 1993 and has recently received his 20 year service pin from the Employment Department.  He has won the International Association of Workforce Professionals “Services to Veteran Award”  3 times for his work in serving Veterans.  He is also the only Veterans Representative to receive the Small Business Administration Award for “Veterans Small Business Advocate of the Year” award in Oregon.  In addition, he competed and was awarded in several consecutive years; thousands of dollars from the Department of Labor “Veterans Incentive Award”   to be used in assisting Veterans remove barriers to employment base on past performances from the previous year.

Directions to Smullin Health Center