Honoring Military Veteran Employees: Things You Can Do
There are over 19 million military veterans living in the United States, and many of these people are employed in the same civilian jobs as their neighbors and friends. Veterans bag groceries, fix cars, answer phones, and work in the medical field. If your business has a military veteran in its employ and you want to honor your employee in a very special way, here are things you can do to say you appreciate all the work they've done to keep your freedom intact today.
Plaques or awards
On holidays where honoring veterans is especially appropriate, such as Flag Day and Veteran's Day, you can display a plaque or award in your employee's honor. This plaque can feature a military symbol of the branch your employee has served in or simply be a plaque that expresses your company's gratitude for your employee's years of service. You can display these plaques and awards on special days in the main office, and place them in a break room or other discreet area during the rest of the year so you can still honor your military employee without always making them center stage.
If you are concerned about your other employees being jealous of the "special attention" your military employee gets, you can get a plaque with all your other employees' names on it that you can display next to the military veteran's plaque or award. The other plaque can say something along the lines of, "These valued employees thank our veterans" so all your employees feel recognized when honoring their veteran employee.
Honoring holidays
Your company may be open every day of the week or may only close during the major holidays, such as Christmas or New Year's Day. If this is the case, make sure your military veteran employees can still take off the national holidays that pertain most to them, such as Independence Day. If the rest of your employees still have to work on these days while your military employee takes time off, you can remedy this situation by giving your other employees overtime or holiday bonus pay for their hard work.
You may also want to begin closing your business on military holidays in honor of your veteran employees and allow all your employees to have this special time off with or without holiday pay. Discuss with your employees whether they would like to have this extra time off, or if they would be willing to work a half or even full day with compensation.
Honoring military veterans in the workplace is a great way to say you are grateful for their hard work to protect your freedom. In placing out plaques and awards and giving time off for appropriate holidays, your veteran employees can feel like they are appreciated in many ways.
For personalized plaques and other awards, contact a company such as Hometown Awards.