OFCCP Veteran Benchmarking and Veteran Hiring Plans
So far in 2015, a frequently occurring discussion I am having with employers surrounds EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) Veteran and Disabled Veteran hiring benchmarks. The landmark change involves proactive veteran and disabled veteran hiring plans as well as several layers of self-identification for employees. I’ll be the first one to tell you I’m not an expert in all of the legal minutiae, so your in-house counsel/HR team should be consulted for details. However, I am deeply involved in veteran and disabled veteran hiring, so I’ll share what I’ve learned so far.
The OFCCP (Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs – Patricia A. Shiu, OFCCP Director is pictured at right) is the governing body that will be enforcing the benchmarks. A business that has over 50 employees, and contracts over $50,000.00 in government business (the “50/50” standard) is compelled to comply with OFCCP hiring benchmarks. Additionally, if your company does business with a federal contractor and qualifies per the 50/50 requirement, you are also subject to these rules.
The benchmarks are twofold and the first piece involves interviewing veteran and disabled veteran candidates. The big change is that companies are now required to record resources they have utilized to achieve the benchmarks of 7.2% veteran and 7% disabled employees. For Bradley-Morris existing clients, their proactive interviewing via BMI’s ConferenceHire®, TargetHire® and PowerHire® services already qualify as one of these resources.
The second piece involves employees, prospective and current, self-identifying as a veteran or disabled veteran. This is to be requested pre-employment and at regular intervals during an employee’s tenure with the company. For service-disabled veterans, especially those that are a percentage disabled that is not readily apparent, this is a 180 degree change from some of the past thinking to not self-identify. Bradley-Morris candidates are now briefed on this and thus encouraged to self-identify.
There are several resources on-line and I will share a couple of links below:
http://www.dol.gov/vets/serviceproviders/compassist.htm
Also, Bradley-Morris, Inc. produces veteran hiring events at locations nationwide and can be a resource to help you meet the OFCCP benchmarks, no matter where the location is for which you are hiring.
I hope that this information assists your team in developing your AAP (Affirmative Action Plan) for veteran and disabled veteran hiring plans. Let me know if you have any questions, but more so, let me know what you can add to the conversation. In addition to being a “must do” for contractors and their suppliers, getting veterans interviewed will surely lead to more veteran hires as we at BMI have seen the interview as a key point in any successful veteran hiring program.
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Image courtesyUS Department of Labor