Laws You Should Know, VEVRAA

03/05/07

The Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA) requires employers who have government contracts or subcontracts worth $25,000 or more to take affirmative action to employ and advance the employment prospects of veterans. In addition, the act prohibits discrimination against any qualified veteran.

Despite the name, VEVRAA was recently expanded to include veterans who saw active duty during a war or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized. That includes conflicts like Bosnia, Grenada, Somalia, and so forth. It also covers disabled veterans and any veteran separated from active duty less than a year.

Take Action
Covered employers must take affirmative action to recruit, hire, expose to promotional opportunities, and train qualified veterans, among other personnel practices. You must also make reasonable accommodations for the known physical or mental limitations of qualified disabled veterans unless doing so would be an undue hardship.

Covered employers must list job openings with their local state employment office or with the Department of Labor’s America’s Job Bank (www.ajb.dni.us/). These offices, in turn, give veterans priority when they make referrals.

You don’t, however, have to list jobs for executive positions, those lasting three days or less, or those for which you intend to hire internally. What’s more, you’re not required to hire the candidates any job service sends your way.

Exemptions/Requirements
The act doesn’t apply if, among other reasons:

Your contract or subcontract is for indefinite quantities of goods, and you believe orders won’t amount to $25,000 or more in any given year;

You have a contract that is performed outside the U.S. by employees not recruited in the U.S.;

You gain an exemption for reasons of national security or interests.

If, however, you have contracts valued at $50,000 or more, and fifty employees or more, you must “prepare, implement, and file” a written affirmative action program covering each work establishment. It must be updated annually, and you must be able to prove that you have followed the plan and have not discriminated against veterans.

Get more on VEVRAA at the Web site for the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs at www.dol.gov/esa/ofcp_org.htm, or at www.dol.gov.