VEVRAA hiring benchmark updated: Affirmative Action Alert

Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP
Contact

Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP

And it has decreased yet again.

The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs has just announced that the hiring benchmark for protected veterans is 5.9 percent effective March 31.

The Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act requires federal contractors to set an annual hiring benchmark for protected veterans. The main method for establishing that benchmark is to use the national percentage of veterans in the civilian labor force, which is updated each year. The new figure is 5.9 percent.    

In determining whether the hiring benchmark is met, contractors must compare the percentage of hires at each establishment with this hiring benchmark. Thus, for affirmative action plans developed on or after this Sunday, the hiring benchmark will be 5.9 percent (unless the contractor opts to set its own hiring benchmark based on the OFCCP’s five-factor approach).

As provided on the OFCCP's website, the national percentage of veterans in the civilian labor force has declined each year since 2014, when this hiring benchmark was first required:

From OFCCP website (with minor edits for ease of reading).

The OFCCP also announced that it “plans to incorporate VEVRAA Focused Reviews into the Corporate Scheduling Announcement List” for the next fiscal year, which will begin on October 1. Earlier this week, the agency published its latest list, which targets a new batch of contractors, and includes focused reviews under Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act. 

Please let us know if you have questions about the annual hiring benchmark for protected veterans or how that affects your organization’s affirmative action compliance.

DISCLAIMER: Because of the generality of this update, the information provided herein may not be applicable in all situations and should not be acted upon without specific legal advice based on particular situations.

© Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP | Attorney Advertising

Written by:

Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP
Contact
more
less

PUBLISH YOUR CONTENT ON JD SUPRA NOW

  • Increased visibility
  • Actionable analytics
  • Ongoing guidance

Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP on:

Reporters on Deadline

"My best business intelligence, in one easy email…"

Your first step to building a free, personalized, morning email brief covering pertinent authors and topics on JD Supra:
*By using the service, you signify your acceptance of JD Supra's Privacy Policy.
Custom Email Digest
- hide
- hide