The Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR) is a Department of Defense program established in 1972 with a goal of promoting good relations, understanding, and cooperation between private-sector employers and their employees serving in the Army Reserve or National Guard. Employers participating in the program sign a statement of support reflecting their intentions to honor the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act, to provide their managers and supervisors with tools and info needed to manage employees serving in the Reserve and Guard, to support employment opportunities for Reservists, Guardsmen, and Veterans, and to support family members of those employees.
Seven awards have been established by the ESGR, with each one reflecting greater recognition of an employer’s efforts in accommodating the needs of Guard and Reserve employees. The Patriot Award is the entry-level honor for employers, who are nominated for the award by their Guard/Reserve employees or by the spouses of those employees. It is issued to a single supervisor or manager, not an entire company, but employees can nominate as many supervisors from their place of employment as they wish. Supervisors selected for the honor are also authorized to wear the ESGR lapel pin.
You can learn more about the ESGR and the nomination process by visiting the organization’s Web site, www.esgr.mil.