Veterans Employment in the United States

Presidential Memoranda

Presidential Memoranda in relation with the Veterans’ Employment and Reemployment Across the Federal Workforce (July 19, 2012):

“President Obama has made helping veterans find civilian employment and reintegrate into our nation’s workforce and economy a top priority. In November 2011, the President signed into law the Returning Heroes Tax Credit, which provides businesses that hire unemployed veterans with a credit of up to $5,600 per veteran, and the Wounded Warriors Tax Credit, which offers businesses that hire veterans with service-connected disabilities a credit of up to $9,600 per veteran. The First Lady and Dr. Biden’s Joining Forces Initiative has helped 90,000 veterans and military spouses find jobs. And we have developed online tools to help connect veterans to employers

The federal government has led efforts to recruit and retain individuals who have served our country in the armed forces. In Executive Order 13518, the President established the Veterans Employment Initiative to bolster recruitment and retention of veterans in the federal workforce. This initiative has been extraordinarily successful, ushering in 200,000 new veteran hires and at least 25,000 new Reservists to the federal workforce. Veterans comprise more than one-fourth (27.3% in FY2011) of the federal workforce, the highest share in 15 years. Our service members, their families, and our country all benefit from veterans’ talents, experience, and dedication.

Federal laws, including the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) provide critical protections to those who have served our country, including veterans and Guard and Reserve members. To ensure that returning service members have the fair opportunity guaranteed under the law, the President and his Administration have articulated a zero-tolerance policy for USERRA violations across the federal government. Today, in order to ensure that directive is carried out, President Obama issued a Memorandum that calls on agencies across the entire federal government to intensify their efforts to ensure fair treatment and equal opportunity for service members in federal employment. Specifically, the Memorandum calls on all agencies in the federal government to:

• Identify Best Practices: The Presidential Memorandum establishes a working group of agencies that hire the greatest number of veterans and that have expertise in service members’ employment rights to identify personnel best practices. Within 180 days of the issuance of the Presidential Memorandum, the Office of Personnel Management will then issue guidance to agencies, enumerating specific steps and providing tools to improve their compliance with employment and reemployment protections for veterans and servicemembers, including improved training, information and education.
• Improve Information about those Serving in the Federal Workforce: A critical part of better serving servicemembers within the federal government is accurate data. In an era where many returning individuals have faced repeated deployments, it is critical that we have detailed information about Guard and Reserve members and their experiences. Under this Memorandum, the federal government will identify ways to improve our data collection, with a particular focus on members of the Guard and Reserve.
• Better Information and Services for those who Serve: Continued outreach and education is critical to serving veterans and members of the Guard and Reserve effectively. Agencies will ensure human resource professionals, managers, and other senior executives also have the appropriate training strategies and tools to support the employment, development and reemployment of service members in their workforce and ensure compliance with the law. Agencies will also continue to expand outreach to service members’ organizations to ensure that individuals are aware of their protections under the law, and connect service members with resources to help them prepare for military leave from federal employment and to help them integrate quickly into their agencies when they return.

Building on Progress

• Creating two new veterans’ tax credits: In November 2011, the President signed into law two new tax credits for hiring veterans, both of which were included as part of the American Jobs Act. The Returning Heroes Tax Credit provides an incentive of up to $5,600 for firms to hire unemployed veterans and the Wounded Warrior Tax Credit doubled the existing tax credit for long-term unemployed veterans with service-connected disabilities to $9,600.

• Challenging the private sector to hire or train 100,000 veterans and their spouses by 2013: Since the President issued his challenge to the private sector in August 2011, more than 90,000 veterans and their spouses have already been hired and 2,100 companies have committed to hire or train 175,000 veterans and their spouses by the end of 2013 through the leadership of the First Lady Michelle Obama, Dr. Jill Biden and their Joining Forces Initiative.

• Increasing access to intensive reemployment services: Post-9/11 veterans are now able to download the Veteran Gold Card, which entitles them to enhanced reemployment services including six months of personalized case management, assessments and counseling at their local one-stop career center.

• Developing online tools to boost veteran employment: The Administration launched the Veterans Jobs Bank, an easy-to-use tool to help veterans find job postings from companies looking to hire them. It already searches over one million job postings and is growing. Additionally, the Department of Labor launched My Next Move for Veterans, a new online resource that allows veterans to enter their military occupation code and discover civilian occupations for which they are well qualified.

• Increasing hiring of veterans in healthcare-related fields: The President challenged Community Health Centers to hire 8,000 veterans – approximately one veteran per health center site – over the next three years and the Health Resources and Services Administration pledged to open up career paths beyond nursing and expand opportunities for veterans to become physician assistants.

• Streamlining civilian credentialing for service members and veterans: Last month, the Department of Defense established, under the President’s direction, a Military Credentialing and Licensing Task Force, which will identify opportunities where service members can earn civilian occupational credentials and licenses without the need for additional training. As the first action of the Task Force, all branches of the military worked with manufacturing credentialing agencies to enable up to 126,000 service members to gain industry-recognized, nationally-portable certifications for high-demand manufacturing jobs.”

Executive Order 13518

Executive order in relation with Veterans Employment Initiative By the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including section 301 of title 3 of the United States Code, I hereby order as follows:

Section 1. Policy. Veterans have served and sacrificed in defense of our Nation. When they complete their service, we must do everything in our power to assist them in re-entering civilian life and finding employment. Government as well as private employers should play a prominent role in helping veterans who may be struggling to find jobs. As one of the Nation’s leading employers, the Federal Government is in need of highly skilled individuals to meet agency staffing needs and to support mission objectives. Our veterans, who have benefited from training and development during their military service, possess a wide variety of skills and experiences, as well as the motivation for public service, that will help fulfill Federal agencies’ staffing needs. It is therefore the policy of my Administration to enhance recruitment of and promote employment opportunities for veterans within the executive branch, consistent with merit system principles and veterans’ preferences prescribed by law. The Federal Government will thereby help lead by example in promoting veterans’ employment.

Sec. 2. Council on Veterans Employment. There is hereby established an interagency Council on Veterans Employment (Council), to be co-chaired by the Secretaries of Labor and Veterans Affairs. The Director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) shall serve as Vice Chair of the Council.

(a) Mission and Function of the Council. The Council shall:

(i) advise and assist the President and the Director of OPM in establishing a coordinated Government-wide effort to increase the number of veterans employed by the Federal Government by enhancing recruitment and training;

(ii) serve as a national forum for promoting veterans’ employment opportunities in the executive branch; and

(iii) establish performance measures to assess the effectiveness of, and submit an annual report to the President on the status of, the Veterans Employment Initiative described in section 3 of this order.

(b) Membership of the Council. The Council shall consist of the heads of the following agencies and such other executive branch agencies as the President may designate:

(i) the Department of State;

(ii) the Department of the Treasury;

(iii) the Department of Defense;

(iv) the Department of Justice;

(v) the Department of the Interior;

(vi) the Department of Agriculture;

(vii) the Department of Commerce;

(viii) the Department of Labor;

(ix) the Department of Health and Human Services;

(x) the Department of Housing and Urban Development;

(xi) the Department of Transportation;

(xii) the Department of Energy;

(xiii) the Department of Education;

(xiv) the Department of Veterans Affairs;

(xv) the Department of Homeland Security;

(xvi) the Environmental Protection Agency;

(xvii) the National Aeronautics and Space Administration;

(xviii) the Agency for International Development;

(xix) the General Services Administration;

(xx) the National Science Foundation;

(xxi) the Nuclear Regulatory Commission;

(xxii) the Office of Personnel Management;

(xxiii) the Small Business Administration; and

(xxiv) the Social Security Administration. A member of the Council may designate, to perform the Council functions of the member, a senior official who is part of the member’s agency, and who is a full-time officer or employee of the Federal Government.

(c) Administration of the Council. The Co-Chairs shall convene meetings of the Council, determine its agenda, and direct its work. At the direction of the Co-Chairs, the Council more 3 may establish subgroups consisting exclusively of Council members or their designees, as appropriate. The Vice Chair shall designate an Executive Director for the Council to support the Vice Chair in managing the Council’s activities. The OPM shall provide administrative support for the Council to the extent permitted by law and within existing appropriations.

(d) Steering Committee. There is established within the Council a Steering Committee consisting of the Secretaries of Defense, Labor, Veterans Affairs, and Homeland Security, the Director of OPM, and any other Council member designated by the Co-Chairs. The Steering Committee shall be responsible for providing leadership, accountability, and strategic direction to the Council.

Sec. 3. Veterans Employment Initiative. The agencies represented on the Council shall participate in a Veterans Employment Initiative (Initiative). Under the Initiative, each participating agency shall, to the extent permitted by law:

(a) develop an agency-specific Operational Plan for promoting employment opportunities for veterans, consistent with the Government-wide Veterans Recruitment and Employment Strategic Plan described in section 4 of this order, merit system principles, the agency’s strategic human capital plan, and other applicable workforce planning strategies and initiatives;

(b) within 120 days of the date of this order, establish a Veterans Employment Program Office, or designate an agency officer or employee with full-time responsibility for its Veterans Employment Program, to be responsible for enhancing employment opportunities for veterans within the agency, consistent with law and merit system principles, including developing and implementing the agency’s Operational Plan, veterans recruitment programs, and training programs for veterans with disabilities, and for coordinating employment counseling to help match the career aspirations of veterans to the needs of the agency;

(c) provide mandatory annual training to agency human resources personnel and hiring managers concerning veterans’ employment, including training on veterans’ preferences and special authorities for the hiring of veterans;

(d) identify key occupations for which the agency will provide job counseling and training to better enable veterans to meet agency staffing needs associated with those occupations; and

(e) coordinate with the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs to promote further development and application of technology designed to assist transitioning service members and veterans with disabilities.

Sec. 4. Additional Responsibilities of the Director of the Office of Personnel Management. The Director of OPM shall, in consultation with the Council and to the extent permitted by law:

(a) develop a Government-wide Veterans Recruitment and Employment Strategic Plan, to be updated at least every 3 years, addressing barriers to the employment of veterans in the executive branch and focusing on:

(i) identifying actions that agency leaders should take to improve employment opportunities for veterans;

(ii) developing the skills of transitioning military service members and veterans;

(iii) marketing the Federal Government as an employer of choice to transitioning service members and veterans;

(iv) marketing the talent, experience, and dedication of transitioning service members and veterans to Federal agencies; and

(v) disseminating Federal employment information to veterans and hiring officials;

(b) provide Government-wide leadership in recruitment and employment of veterans in the executive branch;

(c) identify key occupations, focusing on positions in high-demand occupations where talent is needed to meet Government-wide staffing needs, for which the Federal Government will provide job counseling and training under section 5(a) of this order to veterans and transitioning military service personnel;

(d) develop mandatory training for both human resources personnel and hiring managers on veterans’ employment, including veterans’ preference and special hiring authorities;

(e) compile and post on the OPM website Government-wide statistics on the hiring of veterans; and

(f) within 1 year of the date of this order and with the advice of the Council, provide recommendations to the President on improving the ability of veterans’ preference laws to meet the needs of the new generation of veterans, especially those transitioning from the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the needs of Federal hiring officials.

Sec. 5. Responsibilities of the Secretaries of Defense, Labor, Veterans Affairs, and Homeland Security. The Secretaries of Defense, Labor, Veterans Affairs, and Homeland Security shall take the following actions, to the extent permitted by law:

(a) The Secretaries of Defense, Labor, Veterans Affairs, and Homeland Security shall, in consultation with OPM, develop and implement counseling and training programs to align veterans’ and transitioning service members’ skills and career aspirations to Federal employment opportunities, targeting Federal occupations that are projected to have heavy recruitment needs.

(b) The Secretary of Labor shall conduct employment workshops for veterans and transitioning military service personnel as part of the Transition Assistance Program (TAP), more 5 and integrate in those workshops information about the Federal hiring process, veterans’ preference laws, special hiring authorities, and Federal job opportunities.

(c) The Secretary of Defense and Secretary of Homeland Security (with respect to the Coast Guard) shall:

(i) reinforce military leadership’s commitment and support of the service members’ transition process; and

(ii) institute policies that encourage every eligible service member to take the opportunity to enroll in any or all of the four components of the TAP.

(d) The Secretaries of Labor and Veterans Affairs shall:

(i) assist veterans and transitioning service members in translating military skills, training, and education to Federal occupations through programs developed under subsection (a) of this section; and

(ii) provide training to employment and rehabilitation counselors on the Federal hiring process, veterans’ preferences, special hiring authorities, and identifying Federal employment opportunities for veterans. Sec. 6. General Provisions.