As it does each year, the Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) has updated the national percentage of veterans in the civilian labor force that most federal contractors use as their “protected veterans hiring benchmark.” The benchmark is used to evaluate veteran hiring data collected pursuant to OFCCP’s regulations implementing the nondiscrimination and affirmative action requirements of Section 4212 of the Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA).
Effective March 31, 2021, the new national percentage is set at 5.6%, down slightly from last year’s benchmark of 5.7%. For those federal contractors with affirmative action plan (AAP) annual cycles that begin on or after March 31, they can use the revised 5.6% figure as their protected veterans hiring benchmark for the new AAP cycle. For example, if your AAP cycle runs from April 1 through March 31, you can adopt the new benchmark immediately.
OFCCP does not provide any guidance on whether a contractor can reset its veteran hiring benchmark for annual AAPs that are in effect at the time the new benchmark goes into effect but do not expire until a later date, for example AAPs on a calendar year cycle.
Members of the Center for Workplace Compliance (CWC) can read more here.