A VEVRAA hiring benchmark is a numerical percentage target utilized by federal contractors and subcontractors to measure their success in hiring protected veterans under the Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA). The benchmark is established based on the national percentage of veterans in the civilian labor force, which the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) provides and updates annually. Contractors have the option to use either the OFCCP’s set national percentage benchmark or establish an individualized, custom benchmark based on factors specific to their workforce and labor market (as outlined in OFCCP’s regulations implementing VEVRAA).
Key points about VEVRAA hiring benchmarks include:
- Purpose: The benchmark serves as a tool for contractors to assess their outreach and recruitment efforts aimed at hiring protected veterans. It provides a standard against which their progress in attracting and employing veterans can be measured.
- Calculation: Covered contractors must set, for each of their establishments, annual hiring benchmarks for protected veterans, based on one of two methods: (1)the national percentage of veterans in the workforce (adjusted annually by the OFCCP and available at https://www.dol.gov/agencies/ofccp/vevraa/hiring-benchmark) (2)OR an individualized benchmark based on their workforce and labor market conditions – specifically, the five factors described in 41 CFR §60-300.45(b)(2) (more information on those factors is available at https://www.dol.gov/agencies/ofccp/vevraa/hiring-benchmark/method). Contractors compare their percentage of veteran employees to the benchmark to gauge their compliance with VEVRAA requirements.
- Flexibility: Contractors can choose to use either OFCCP’s national benchmark OR establish their own customized benchmark based on the five factors referenced above. Establishing an individualized benchmark allows for customization to better reflect the contractor’s hiring goals and the availability of qualified veterans in their specific labor market.
- Reporting: As part of their annual VEVRAA Affirmative Action Programs (AAPs), contractors must annually assess their hiring efforts for protected veterans against the benchmark and document their analysis and actions taken to meet or exceed the benchmark. Contractors must submit AAPs and related data, including this assessment, to the OFCCP upon request during compliance evaluations.
- Compliance & Enforcement: OFCCP evaluates contractors’ compliance with VEVRAA, including their efforts to meet the hiring benchmark, through audits which may include reviews of AAPs and employment practices related to veterans.
- Applies Only to Hiring Data: The benchmark applies only to hiring data used for federal contractors’ Affirmative Action Programs.
- No Penalty for Failure to Reach the Benchmark: A contractor’s failure to meet this benchmark does not carry any penalties. Rather, contractors should use the result of this comparison when assessing the effectiveness of their veteran outreach and recruitment efforts to determine if further efforts are necessary.
- Benchmark ≠ Protected Veteran Unemployment Rate: Note that the VEVRAA hiring benchmark is NOT the unemployment rate of protected veterans.
- Steady Decline: Since its inception in 2014, when the benchmark was 7.2%, the number has steadily declined each year. In 2004, OFCCP set the benchmark at 5.2%.
Overall, the VEVRAA hiring benchmark is a critical component of ensuring that federal contractors actively engage in efforts to recruit and hire protected veterans, promoting equal employment opportunities and compliance with federal regulations aimed at advancing veterans’ employment rights.