VETS Proposes New Regulations to Comply with OFCCP Regulations and Decrease Work for Employers

On Monday, the Federal Register contained a Notice of Proposed Rule Making published by the Veterans' Employment and Training Service (VETS) “to propose revisions to the regulations implementing the reporting requirements under the Vietnam Era Veterans' Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974, as amended, (“VEVRAA”).”  Essentially, the proposed rule intends to simplify the reporting requirements of federal contractors to be consistent with the new affirmative action regulations published by the OFCCP (and which take effect next month).  Among other things, the proposed new rule officially eliminates the VETS-100 form, rescinds the regulations at 41 C.F.R. 61-250, and renames the VETS-100A form the Vets-4212 form.   The VETS 4212 form would also begin using the terms as defined in the new OFCCP regulations (which are discussed in more detail below).  In addition, the new regulations would cease requiring employers to collect hiring information on each sub-category of protected veteran because, among other things, some veterans qualify in more than one category.   Thus, the new regulation would eliminate double counting and eliminate the possible, inadvertent identification of disabled veterans, etc.  By the time the regulations become effective in 2015, employers would only need to collect information for the re-defined “protected veteran,” instead of in each sub-category.

A number of definitions for the various sub-groups of statutorily protected or covered veterans have changed over the years to include more than merely Vietnam  veterans.  They are changing again.  First, “other protected veteran” is being changed to “active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran.”  In 1998, the Veterans Employment Opportunity Act of 1998 (VEOA) amended VEVRAA by extending protection to the category of veterans “who served on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service during a war or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized under the laws administered by the Department of Defense.” Initially, both the VETS and OFCCP regulations implementing the VEOA amendments adopted the term “other protected veteran” to refer to the veterans belonging to this category.  However, OFCCP's most recent regulations replace the term “other protected veteran” with “active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran” because the term “other protected veteran” was understandably being misinterpreted as a “catch-all” that includes all veterans rather than shorthand for the category of veterans who served on active duty during a war or in a campaign for which a campaign badge has been authorized. VETS proposed new rule is making a similar change.

Second, “covered veteran” is being changed to “protected veteran.”  Currently, “covered veteran” means  “a veteran in any of the four categories defined in the section—disabled veteran, other protected veteran, Armed Forces service medal veteran, and recently separated veteran.”  However, the new OFCCP regulations decided to use essentially that definition to apply to “protected veteran” and VETS wants to be consistent.   To be clear, “protected veteran” will now mean “a veteran who may be classified as a disabled veteran, recently separated veteran, active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran, or an Armed Forces service medal veteran.”  By the time the new VETS-2414 form becomes effective in 2015, employers will only need to collect hiring information on the newly defined “protected veteran.”

In the meantime, however, employers still have the VETS-100A form to use and OFCCP’s new regulation, which takes effect on March 24, 2014.

NOTICE: This summary is designed merely to inform and alert you of recent legal developments. It does not constitute legal advice and does not apply to any particular situation because different facts could lead to different results. Information here can change or be amended without notice. Readers should not act upon this information without legal advice. If you have any questions about anything you have read, you should consult with or retain an employment attorney.