VEVRAA hiring benchmark drops again

revised regulations implementing the Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act, effective April 2014, require federal contractors to develop an annual hiring benchmark for protected veterans. This benchmark must be based on either (1) the national percentage of all veterans in the civilian labor force; or (2) a five-factor analysis taking into account various veteran and contractor statistics. When the OFCCP’s new regulations were published in 2013, the national percentage of veterans in the civilian labor force was 8 percent. When the regulations went into effect in March 2014, the figure was 7.2 percent. Now, as of the end of calendar year 2014, the Bureau of Labor Statistics sets the figure at 7 percent. Now that the new 7 percent statistic is effective for 2015, it should be acceptable to develop all 2015 AAPs (at least those not already prepared) with a 7 percent hiring benchmark for those contractors choosing to use the national percentage of veterans in the labor force. Contractors preferring to establish more individualized hiring benchmarks may use an alternative method, that must consider all of these five factors:

1. The average percentage of veterans in the civilian labor force for the State where the establishment is located, for the previous three years.
2. The number of veterans who participated in the employment service delivery system in the State where the establishment is located, over the previous four quarters.
3. The applicant ratio and hiring ratio for the establishment for the previous year.
4. The most recent assessment of the effectiveness of your outreach and recruitment efforts.
5. Any other factor, such as the nature of the job openings or the facility’s location, that would tend to affect the availability of qualified protected veterans.