When Army Reserve Captain Robert Woods returned from a year-long deployment to Afghanistan, he found his family happy and financially better off than when he left. He had his civilian employer CSC to thank for this, so he nominated it for a big Department of Defense award.
CSC won the 2006 Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award in July, the top award given to companies who provide excellent support to employees who are members of the Armed Forces Reserves and National Guard.
"The awards process is a grassroots effort," Woods says. "Most [CSC executives] didn’t know about it until we won." All DoD employer recognition awards are first nominated by individuals in the Guard and Reserves, or their family members.
Among the 15 companies to receive the award at a Sept. 21 ceremony in Washington, D.C., CSC will be the only IT firm. "By going above and beyond what is required by law, these firms set a high standard for all of America’s private and public employers," says Bob Hollingsworth, Executive Director of the National Committee for Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR), the DoD organization responsible for the award.
Woods says he nominated CSC not only because of its policies, but also because his manager, Kurt Tripp of CSC’s Defense Group, personally supported him before, during and after his deployment.
"Kurt was very proactive in fulfilling CSC’s policies," Woods says. "He wrote me often to find out if there was anything he could do to help, so I could keep my mind on the fight and not worry about the home front. He realizes the value of people and takes good care of them."
According to Amy Bishop, CSC senior human resources manager, the company’s managers are encouraged to support employees called to duty by assisting with their transition out of the workplace and by keeping contact with them during their absence. CSC is also a charter member of the Army Spouse Employment Program, which helps the spouses of soldiers, who often face difficult transitions, find work.
When Woods got orders for Afghanistan, he was concerned his wife might worry too much about him. "I wanted a job for her so that she would have her mind occupied productively and have less time to worry about me," Woods says.
When Tripp asked how he could help, Woods suggested he find Karen a job. "I needed someone to replace Robert, and when I found out Karen had the qualifications for the job, well, it was a natural decision to hire her," Tripp says. "She’s excellent at her work, and now that Robert is back, he’s been promoted and has a new job."
CSC has a history of actively recruiting military personnel, and at the time of the award employed 9,466 U.S. veterans. CSC provides veterans who are called up for duty with benefits that exceed federal requirements, including pay, insurance and 401k benefits for at least 12 months, the usual length of an overseas deployment.
Of the roughly 1.2 million members of the National Guard and Reserve, many are periodically called away from their civilian jobs for training and combat operations. The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act ensures that employers continue to provide service members with health insurance for 24 months, that military service is not considered a break in employment for the purposes of pension and vacation accrual, and that their jobs are waiting for them when they return home.
ESGR was established in 1972 to get support from employers for the men and women of the National Guard and Reserve. ESGR volunteers provide free education, consultation and, if necessary, mediation for employers of Guard and Reserve personnel. Secretary of Defense William Perry instituted the Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award in 1996 under the auspices of ESGR.
