What protections do I have under USERRA?

You should be able to get the night off prior to going to drill

Here in Oklahoma, I'm not sure how things will translate over to you, but here, I let them know when I get my drill schedule for the year. They give me the day prior to drill off to allow for sleep and etc, as well as drill it self. Just tell your employer that you would like the day before drill off. I had an employer that had issues with it, but I told his boss and it was straightened out. You should be able to do the same.

USERRA is federal law so any state law pertaining to your situation is null. Also, your employer CANNOT force you to use any personal time, sick days, etc nor subject you to face penalties (a point system) for missing days for military service.
Refer to the following below:
*1002.74 regarding a leave of absence
*1002.85-1002.87 regarding notification (addresses permission not required)
* [login to see] .153 regarding a period of service (also addresses use of vacation time)

Reference: http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?c=ecfr&SID=b3380ad7c0fc4d8b54acc41fba3840b0&rgn=div5&view=text&node=20:4.0.5.3.2&idno=20

Your employer is required to schedule you so that you can get 8 hours rest prior to and after Drill. Your state's ESGR Rep should be able to give you the details of the legal coverage, and can also advocate for you with your employer. A lot of employers just do not know what their legal obligations are concerning the Guard/Reserve.

Oklahoma is a third world country in many ways. That extends to employers doing things just to do things including weird pay requirements. If you look through USERRA, it really deals with you going away and what rights you have when you return. It is not intended to be a work scheduling conflict resolver, especially since you appear to be doing overtime. Bottom line, I'd get a senior officer to have a polite chat with the company to see if they can loosen up a bit. You're also showing up for duty not properly rested which makes you a safety hazard.

The other thing is to the extent USERRA may apply, getting DoJ to lean in on it is a very different story. Up to that point, all the MIL side can do is appeal to the good nature of an employer. MIL has no authority to impose anything. DoJ doesn't get interested in most stuff as the "value" isn't worth it to them. I had an officer fired from his architect job with the termination letter stating the reason was he's a reservist and was recalled. DoJ wouldn't bite because it wasn't worth the $2M+ minimum threshold at the time. DoJ just said, he's a professional and will find other work sooner than they'd get around to it. This is why a law is only as good as its enforcement.

Good luck on the resolution. Probably the only "leverage" would relate to whether or not the company runs 7 days a week. Then presumably, it's a matter of work scheduling to accommodate your Guard status. If the weekend is their heavy days, then it gets murkier.

ESGR Ombudsman Director (MN)/ESGR National Trainer/Attorney here.

This is a recurring issue, especially with first responders who are also SMs. USERRA and the regulations specifically address this. Under 20 CFR 1002.74 states:

"Must the employee begin service in the uniformed services immediately after leaving his or her employment position in order to have USERRA reemployment rights?

No. At a minimum, an employee must have enough time after leaving the employment position to travel safely to the uniformed service site and arrive fit to perform the service. Depending on the specific circumstances, including the duration of service, the amount of notice received, and the location of the service, additional time to rest, or to arrange affairs and report to duty, may be necessitated by reason of service in the uniformed services. The following examples help to explain the issue of the period of time between leaving civilian employment and beginning of service in the uniformed services:

(a) If the employee performs a full overnight shift for the civilian employer and travels directly from the work site to perform a full day of uniformed service, the employee would not be considered fit to perform the uniformed service. An absence from that work shift is necessitated so that the employee can report for uniformed service fit for duty"

The DOL-VETS interprets and applies this Regulation as requiring sufficient time for adequate "rest" and safe travel. "Rest" should be at least 8 hours, but may require more based upon the circumstances.

Hopefully this answers your questions. Please refer your ER to this particular regulation, or to http://www.ESGR.mil where there are resources available so ERs can better understand their obligations under USERRA.

(Note also that a SM may be entitled to an extended, or intermittent, time off prior to a lengthy deployment. It all depends.... But in your situation, you MUST be allowed sufficient time for rest (at least 8 hours) plus safe travel time prior to military service.)

I know I should be off the night prior to drill. However, my paydate fall on fridays and my job got a rule where if you don't show up to work the day of payday or that next if you're scheduled, you get pointed 3 points instead of 1. They were giving me the side eye when I told them about not being scheduled that day or getting off early.

ESGR Ombudsman Director (MN)/ESGR National Trainer/Attorney here.

This is a recurring issue, especially with first responders who are also SMs. USERRA and the regulations specifically address this. Under 20 CFR 1002.74 states:

"Must the employee begin service in the uniformed services immediately after leaving his or her employment position in order to have USERRA reemployment rights?

No. At a minimum, an employee must have enough time after leaving the employment position to travel safely to the uniformed service site and arrive fit to perform the service. Depending on the specific circumstances, including the duration of service, the amount of notice received, and the location of the service, additional time to rest, or to arrange affairs and report to duty, may be necessitated by reason of service in the uniformed services. The following examples help to explain the issue of the period of time between leaving civilian employment and beginning of service in the uniformed services:

(a) If the employee performs a full overnight shift for the civilian employer and travels directly from the work site to perform a full day of uniformed service, the employee would not be considered fit to perform the uniformed service. An absence from that work shift is necessitated so that the employee can report for uniformed service fit for duty"

The DOL-VETS interprets and applies this Regulation as requiring sufficient time for adequate "rest" and safe travel. "Rest" should be at least 8 hours, but may require more based upon the circumstances.

Hopefully this answers your questions. Please refer your ER to this particular regulation, or to http://www.ESGR.mil where there are resources available so ERs can better understand their obligations under USERRA.

(Note also that a SM may be entitled to an extended, or intermittent, time off prior to a lengthy deployment. It all depends.... But in your situation, you MUST be allowed sufficient time for rest (at least 8 hours) plus safe travel time prior to military service.)

20 CFR 1002.74: "Must the employee begin service in the uniformed services immediately after leaving his or her employment position in order to have USERRA reemployment rights?
No. At a minimum, an employee must have enough time after leaving the employment position to travel safely to the uniformed service site and arrive fit to perform the service....
(a) If the employee performs a full overnight shift for the civilian employer and travels directly from the work site to perform a full day of uniformed service, the employee would not be considered fit to perform the uniformed service. An absence from that work shift is necessitated so that the employee can report for uniformed service fit for duty."
The preamble to the regs makes clear that the SM is entitled to enough time for safe travel and rest (at least 8 hours).