Executive Summary:  The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) has announced that the Annual National Percentage of Veterans in the Civilian Labor Force for the current year is 7.2 percent.  The final regulations implementing the OFCCP's revised VEVRAA Rules had indicated that this amount would be 8 percent; however, the information posted on the OFCCP's VEVRAA Benchmark Database is the current information and should be used for affirmative action plans filed after the effective date of the new regulations (March 24, 2014). 

Hiring Benchmarks

As discussed in our prior Legal Alert, OFCCP Releases Final Veterans and Rehabilitation Act Rules, as part of the OFCCP's revised VEVRAA regulations, federal contractors who are required to file written affirmative action plans must also establish a hiring benchmark for protected veterans. This benchmark will apply to each of the contractor's establishments.  Contractors can use a benchmark equal to the national percentage of veterans in the civilian labor force, as announced and updated annually by the OFCCP.  Alternatively, contractors can establish their own benchmark using the five factors outlined in the revised VEVRAA rules.  Under either approach, a contractor's Veteran AAP must identify the benchmark being utilized and indicate in subsequent years whether the benchmark was met. 

The OFCCP's VEVRAA Benchmark Database provides additional information about the establishment of benchmarks and also provides state and national data that may be needed to establish these benchmarks.