Revisions to Vietnam Era Veterans’
Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA)
Briefing on U.S.
Department of Labor
Final Rules on
VEVVRA
As published 8/27/13
WHO MUST COMPLY?
These regulations require that covered
contractors and subcontractors with
 a Government contract or subcontract of
$100,000 or more
AND
50 or more employees develop and maintain
a written VEVRAA affirmative action
program.
IMPACT
OFCCP Estimates
– 171,275 Federal contractor
establishments are impacted by this rule
– Costs of implementing and maintaining
compliance with the final rule will likely
exceed $100 million annually.
Affirmative Action Required
These revised regulations now require
Government contractors and
subcontractors to take affirmative action
to employ and advance in employment
qualified protected veterans.
Hiring Benchmarks
Under these new rules, covered contractors and
subcontractors will be required to establish hiring
benchmarks on an annual basis.
–
Purpose of establishing benchmarks is to create a
quantifiable method by which contractor can measure its
progress toward achieving equal employment
opportunity for protected veterans.
–
Hiring benchmarks (not quotas) must be set and
documented each year using one of two mechanisms
described below:
Benchmarking Options
Either establish a benchmark which equals the national percentage of veterans
in the civilian labor force (currently ~8 percent), to be published and
updated annually on the OFCCP website;
OR, Establish a benchmark by taking into account:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Average percentage of veterans in the civilian labor force in the State(s) where the contractor
is located over preceding three years, as calculated by Bureau of Labor Statistics and
published on OFCCP website; (currently ~8 percent),
Number of veterans, over previous four quarters, who were participants in employment
service delivery system in State where contractor is located, as tabulated by Veterans’
Employment and Training Service and published on OFCCP website;
Applicant ratio and hiring ratio for previous year, based on data collected in the
establishment’s Affirmative Action Plan’s Audit and reporting system section
Contractor’s recent assessments of effectiveness of its external outreach and recruitment
efforts, as set forth in its Affirmative Action Plan’s “assessment of external outreach and
recruitment efforts section”, and
Any other factors, including but not limited to nature of contractor’s job openings and/or its
location, which would tend to affect availability of qualified protected veterans.
Invitation to self-identify
Pre-offer. The contractor must invite applicants to inform the contractor whether the applicant
believes that he or she is a protected veteran who may be covered by the Act. This invitation may be
included in the application materials for the position, but in any circumstance shall be provided to
applicants prior to making an offer of employment to a job applicant.
Post-offer. In addition to the Pre-offer invitation the contractor must invite applicants to inform the
contractor whether the applicant believes that he or she belongs to one or more of the specific
categories of protected veteran for which the contractor is required to report.
Such an invitation shall be made at any time after the offer of employment but before the applicant
begins his or her job duties.
Both Pre and Post Invitations must state that the contractor is a Federal contractor required to take
affirmative action to employ and advance in employment protected veterans pursuant to the Act,
summarize the relevant portions of the Act and the contractor’s affirmative action program.
Voluntary Self-Identification
VOLUNTARY means contractor may not compel
or coerce an individual to self-identify.
The *invitations must state that the information is
being requested on a voluntary basis, that it will
be kept confidential, that refusal to provide it will
not subject the applicant to any adverse
treatment, and that it will not be used in a
manner inconsistent with the act.
* OFCCP provides a “Sample Invitation to Self-Identify in Appendix of the
regulation (Click on link and go to Page 70)
Notification to Subcontractors,
Vendors, and Suppliers
Contractors are required to send written notification to
subcontractors, vendors, and suppliers of the company’s
affirmative action policy.
The VEVRAA final rule also requires contractors to send
written notification of the company policy related to its
affirmative action efforts to all subcontractors, including
subcontracting vendors and suppliers. OFCCP therefore
expects that contractors will send a single, combined
notice, informing subcontractors, vendors and suppliers
of their VEVRAA and section 503 policies.
Applicants
1. Contractors will be required to state in all solicitations
and advertisements that they are equal opportunity
employers of protected veterans.
AND
2. The contractor must post in conspicuous places,
available to employees and applicants for employment,
notices in a form to be prescribed by the Director, Office
of Federal Contract Compliance Programs:
Affirmative Action Support
by Top US Executive
The Affirmative Action policy statement must
indicate:
–
–
–
Support for contractor’s affirmative action program
by the *top United States executive’s
Provide for an audit and reporting system and
Assign overall responsibility for implementation of
affirmative action activities required under this
regulation.
*E.g., CEO or President of United States Division of a foreign company)
Equal Opportunity Clause
Each contracting agency and each
contractor shall include the following
equal opportunity clause in each of its
covered Government contracts or
subcontracts (and modifications,
renewals, or extensions thereof if not
included in the original contract):
SEE NEXT SLIDE > > >
The Equal Opportunity Clause
EQUAL OPPORTUNITY FOR VEVRAA PROTECTED VETERANS
The contractor will not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because he or
she is a disabled veteran, recently separated veteran, active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran,
or Armed Forces service medal veteran (hereinafter collectively referred to as “protected veteran(s)”) in
regard to any position for which the employee or applicant for employment is qualified.
The contractor agrees to take affirmative action to employ, advance in employment and otherwise treat
qualified individuals without discrimination based on their status as a protected veteran in all
employment practices, including the following:
i. Recruitment, advertising, and job application procedures.
ii. Hiring, upgrading, promotion, award of tenure, demotion, transfer, layoff, termination, right
of return from layoff and rehiring.
iii. Rates of pay or any other form of compensation and changes in compensation.
iv. Job assignments, job classifications, organizational structures, position descriptions, lines of
progression, and seniority lists.
v. Leaves of absence, sick leave, or any other leave.
vi. Fringe benefits available by virtue of employment, whether or not administered by the
contractor.
The contractor will include the provisions of this clause in every subcontract or purchase order of
$100,000 or more, unless exempted by the rules, regulations, or orders of the Secretary issued
pursuant to VEVRAA so that such provisions will be binding upon each subcontractor or vendor. The
contractor will take such action with respect to any subcontract or purchase order as the Director,
Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, may direct to enforce such provisions, including
action for noncompliance.
The contractor shall in all solicitations or advertisements for employees placed by or on behalf of the
contractor state that all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to
their protected veteran status.
Equal Opportunity Clause in Contract
Does Not Need To Be Verbatim
It is not necessary to include the equal opportunity clause
verbatim in the contract. The clause must be made a part of
the contract by citation to 41 CFR 60-300.5(a) and inclusion of
the following language, in bold text, after the citation:
“This contractor and subcontractor must abide by the requirements
of 41 CFR 60-300.5(a). This regulation prohibits discrimination
against qualified protected veterans, and requires affirmative action
by covered prime contractors and subcontractors to employ and
advance in employment qualified protected veterans.”
Action-Oriented Programs
The existing regulations will be unchanged and will
continue to mandate that contractors “periodically” review
physical and mental job qualification standards to ensure
that, to the extent the qualification standards screen out
qualified, disabled veterans, they are job-related for the
position in question and are consistent with business
necessity.
The final rule states that contractors “should consider
applicants for jobs other than the one for which they
applied” (Note: is does not say MUST).
These records must be maintained for a period of three (3) years.
Audit and Reporting System
The contractor must design and implement an audit and reporting
system that will:
1 - Measure effectiveness of contractor’s affirmative action program; Indicate
any need for remedial action;
2 - Determine degree to which contractor’s objectives have been attained;
3 - Determine whether known protected veterans have had opportunity to
participate in all company sponsored educational, training, recreational and
social activities;
4 - Measure contractor’s compliance with affirmative action program’s specific
obligations; and
Document actions taken to comply with these obligations above, and retain
these documents as employment records subject to recordkeeping requirements
of this regulation.
Where affirmative action program is found to be deficient, contractor must
undertake necessary action to bring program into compliance.
Listing all job opportunities
The Equal Opportunity Clause (EO Clause) in current rule, as well as
VEVRAA statute itself, requires Federal contractors to list their job
openings with state or local employment service delivery system
(employment service).
Therefore contractors will continue to provide job openings in a
format that employment service delivery system will accept along
with an additional burden of including a few lines of text to outside
job search organizations:
1.
identify contractor as Federal contractor,
2.
request priority referrals, and,
3.
identify contractor’s official responsible for hiring
Listing all job opportunities – Cont’d
All job opportunities, i.e., employment openings, must be
listed with the state workforce agency job bank or with local
employment service delivery system where opening occurs
will satisfy requirement to list jobs with appropriate
employment service delivery system.
1. This includes all positions except; executive and senior
management; those positions that will be filled from
within contractor’s organization; and, positions lasting
three days or less.
2. This includes full-time employment, temporary
employment of more than three days’ duration, and
part-time employment.
Listing all job opportunities – Cont’d
The contractor must also provide to employment service
delivery system:
1. Name and location of each hiring location within state and
2. Contact information for contractor official responsible for
hiring at each location.
3. “Contractor official” may be
–
–
–
–
Chief hiring official,
Human Resources contact,
Senior management contact, or
Any other managers for the contractor who can verify
information set forth in job listing and receive priority referrals
from employment service delivery systems.
Listing all job opportunities – Cont’d
In the event that contractor uses any external job
search organizations to assist in its hiring,
contractor must also provide to employment
service delivery system contact information for
the job search organization(s).
Review of Personnel Processes
Regulation retains existing language requiring
periodic review of physical and mental job
qualifications to ensure they do not screen out
individuals with disabilities.
However, the Final Rule adds a requirement
that contractors annually review their outreach
and recruitment efforts to determine whether
they were effective and document its review.
Documenting Outreach &
Recruitment Activities
Final Rule requires contractors to document all outreach and
recruitment activities they undertake to comply with new rules
and retain these documents for a period of 3 years.
Under existing regulations, contractors are required to establish
meaningful outreach and recruitment contacts.
This documentation may take several forms and may include, for
example:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Numbers and types of outreach and recruitment events,
Targeted groups or types of participants for each event,
Dates or timeframes,
Location of the events, and
Who conducted and participated in the outreach and
recruitment on behalf of the contractor.
Training Employees &
Policy Dissemination
Final rule requires
(1) including policy in contractor’s policy manual; and
(2) if contractor is party to a collecting bargaining
agreement notifying union officials of policy and
requesting cooperation
It retains existing rule’s general requirement that “all
personnel involved in recruitment, screening, selection,
promotion, disciplinary, and related processes” be trained
to ensure that contractor’s affirmative action commitments
are implemented.
Audit & Reporting System Obligations
Final rule requires contractors to only
document and maintain applicant and hire data,
It does not require contractors to collect,
maintain, and analyze information on number of
referrals and ratio of priority referrals of
veterans to total referrals, or require
contractors to calculate applicant, hiring, and
job fill ratios in this provision.
Reasonable Accommodation Obligations
Existing regulations allow contractors to use as a
defense to an allegation that a job qualification
screened out a disabled veteran that disabled
veteran poses a “direct threat” to health or safety of
individual or others in the workplace.
–
Final rule requires contractor creates summary of
statement of reasons for its direct threat finding to
document specific reasons behind belief that “direct
threat” defense applies and maintain this document as a
confidential medical record
Availability of Affirmative Action
Program Document
The full affirmative action program, absent
the required data metrics, must be made
available to any employee or applicant for
employment for inspection upon request.
The location and hours during which the
program may be obtained must be posted at
each establishment.
Appropriate Outreach & Positive
Recruitment Activities
Contractor must undertake *appropriate outreach
and positive recruitment activities that are
reasonably designed to effectively recruit protected
veterans
–
–
Among other things, scope of contractor’s efforts will
depend upon contractor’s size, resources, and extent to
which existing employment practices are adequate.
Contractor must send written notification of company
policy related to its affirmative action efforts to all
subcontractors, including subcontracting vendors and
suppliers, requesting appropriate action on their part.
*See next slide for outreach and recruitment activity examples are provided by OFCCP.
OFCCP examples of outreach and positive
recruitment activities include:
Enlisting assistance and support of following persons and organizations in
recruiting, and developing on-the-job training opportunities for veterans, in order to
fulfill its commitment to provide meaningful employment opportunities for such
veterans:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Local Veterans’ Employment Representative in local employment service
office (i.e., One-Stop) nearest contractor’s establishment;
Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office nearest contractor’s
establishment;
Veterans’ counselors and coordinators (“Vet-Reps”) on college
campuses;
Service officers of national veterans’ groups active in area of contractor’s
establishment;
Local veterans’ groups and veterans’ service centers near contractor’s
establishment;
6.
Department of Defense Transition Assistance Program (TAP), or any
subsequent program that, in whole or in part, might replace TAP; and
7.
Any organization listed in Employer Resources section of National
Resource Directory (http://www.nationalresourcedirectory.gov/), or any
future service that replaces or complements it.
Actions Required; Not Just Commitment
OFCCP suggests contractors consider taking the actions listed
below, as appropriate, to fulfill its commitment to provide
meaningful employment opportunities to protected veterans:
 Formal briefing sessions should be held, preferably on
company premises, with representatives from recruiting
sources.



an integral part of the briefing should Include facility tours,
clear and concise explanations of current and future job
openings, position descriptions, worker specifications,
explanations of the company’s selection process, and
recruiting literature
, the company official in charge of the contractor’s affirmative
action program should be in attendance when possible.
Formal arrangements should be made for referral of
applicants, follow up with sources, and feedback on
disposition of applicants.
Actions Required; Not Just Commitment II
OFCCP suggests
Contractor’s recruitment efforts at all
educational institutions should incorporate
special efforts to reach students who are
protected veterans.
Actions Required; Not Just Commitment III
OFCCP suggests
An effort should be made to participate in
work-study programs with Department of
Veterans Affairs rehabilitation facilities
which specialize in training or educating
disabled veterans.
Actions Required; Not Just Commitment IV
OFCCP suggests:
Protected veterans should be made
available for participation in career days,
youth motivation programs, and related
activities in their communities.
Actions Required; Not Just Commitment V
OFCCP suggests:
Contractor should take any other positive steps it
deems necessary to attract qualified protected
veterans not currently in the work force who have
requisite skills and can be recruited through
affirmative action measures. These persons may
be located through the local chapters of
organizations of and for any of the classifications
of protected veterans.
Actions Required; Not Just Commitment
OFCCP suggests:
In making hiring decisions, should consider
applicants who are known protected veterans for
all available positions for which they may be
qualified when the position(s) applied for is
unavailable.
AND
should consider listing its job openings with the
National Resource Directory’s Veterans Job
Bank, or any future service that replaces or
complements it.
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