Office of the
Illinois Attorney General
Kwame Raoul

Military Rights

We owe a debt of gratitude to the men and women who have served our nation and safeguarded our freedom. In war and in peace, they have risked their lives for our country.

Attorney General Raoul recognizes that the physical and psychological effects of military duty often continue after the tour of duty ends. Likewise, the country's support for the troops does not stop when they come home. To compensate veterans for the hardships they have suffered in service to our country, the state and federal governments provide them with benefits.

The Attorney General's Military and Veterans Rights Bureau is dedicated to ensuring that veterans and active duty military service members receive the benefits they have earned. The bureau provides men and women with assistance, including case advocacy, health outreach and public advocacy forums. For more information on the services our office provides, please see the links below or contact the Military and Veterans Rights Bureau.

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Complete a Military & Veterans Rights Request for Assistance Form

If you or a loved one is currently serving or has served in the armed forces and is in need of assistance, would like to voice a concern, or would like to file a complaint, please complete the Military and Veterans Rights Request for Assistance form and provide as much detail as possible. Once received, someone from the office will contact you regarding the matter.

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Military Veterans Assistance and State Charter

The Illinois Attorney General enforces the laws that provide and protect the benefits for Illinois veterans and their families. Follow the link below for information on the Military and Veterans Assistance Act (MVAA) and the Veteran Service Organizations State Charter Act, and for access to the State Charter application.

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Protecting Employment and Benefits while on Military Duty:
The Illinois Service Member Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (ISERRA)

The Illinois Service Member Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (ISERRA) is a law designed to protect the common public interest in safeguarding and promoting military service. The law became effective in 2019 and was implemented to reflect the reality of the military’s operational reserve force for service members and employers.

ISERRA was created to minimize the adverse impact of military service on civilian careers, provide prompt reemployment protections for service members, prohibit military discrimination against service members, and ensure public entities are model employers of reserve component members.

The law also created a new position of ISERRA advocate in the Attorney General’s Office. The ISERRA advocate assists both service members and employers to ensure the law is accurately interpreted and effectively implemented. The ISERRA advocate provides information, education, informal mediation, and in rare instances can initiate investigations or lawsuits to ensure ISERRA is correctly applied. For further assistance, please contact:

To ensure that service members who are also public employees can receive all the benefits they are due while fulfilling their military duty, our office can help with the Differential Pay calculations.

View this self-guided PowerPoint that explains the law and instructs employers, employees and HR professionals in how to calculate payments accurately.

The accompanying worksheet goes step-by-step and includes formulas to generate the payments for specific circumstances.

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