NEWS
OFCCP Releases Proposed Revisions to Veterans Regulations
On April 26, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs released proposed revisions to the affirmative action regulations for veterans. Make no mistake; if these regulations are published in final form, they would make a significant impact on how federal contractors and subcontractors deal with veterans. Highlights of the proposed regulations include the following:
- There would be a form of placement goals for veterans in which companies would be required to track and report on veteran hires against some sort of percentage of veterans in the marketplace.
- Companies would be required to establish linkage agreements with the local state employment service and at least two other organizations that work with veterans seeking employment opportunities.
- Companies using temporary services, recruiters, and other third-party providers for candidates would need to ensure that these third-party providers are actively seeking veterans.
- Applicant survey forms would need to be revised to allow applicants to indicate whether they are a "protected veteran" (i.e. a veteran covered by the federal affirmative action laws).
- There would be a requirement to keep five (5!) years of data on the number of veterans who apply for open positions.
A couple of important reminders about the proposed regulations:
- These regulations are proposed. They are NOT in final form. You can influence what will happen to these regulations by providing comments to OFCCP before June 28, 2011 at the website noted below.
- Don't pay attention to alarmist publications that say "Make all these changes immediately!" We don't know how many of the items in these proposed regulations will appear in the final regulations.
- It is worth thinking about what these proposals would mean for your company. While it will be at least a year before any new veterans regulations come into effect, it makes sense to do a little groundwork to see what this might mean for your organization.
If you want to read the proposed regulations, they are found at www.regulations.gov. OFCCP has provided a series of FAQS about the proposed regulations that you can find at its website.
Did You Know...that the requirement to list positions with the state employment service is an outgrowth of the current veterans regulations? Many people assume this requirement is in the regulations regarding minorities and women.