If any employee enters the land, naval, and air forces of the United States of America, upon his or her honorable discharge from service, his or her former employer, if requested within forty (40) days after honorable discharge and if the employee is still qualified to perform the duties of his or her former position, shall reinstate the employee to his or her former employment or to a position of like seniority, status, and pay, unless the employer’s circumstances have so changed as to make it impossible or unreasonable to do so, and nothing in this section shall be construed at any time to prevent the employer, if so requested, from restoring any employee by releasing any other employee of like or different status and pay or from granting employment to other honorably discharged servicemembers in the same manner as though they had entered service as employees of that employer. Any person, firm, or corporation violating any of the provisions of this section shall be subject to the penalty of a fine of not less than fifty dollars ($50.00) and not more than five hundred dollars ($500).