OFCCP Lowers VEVRAA Hiring Benchmark for the Sixth Consecutive Year

The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) announced the Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974 (VEVRAA) hiring benchmark for 2020. Effective March 31, 2020, the hiring benchmark will be 5.7 percent, down from 5.9 percent in 2019—marking the sixth reduction of the benchmark since its inception in 2014.

Since March 24, 2014, VEVRAA has required contractors with written affirmative action programs (AAPs) either to establish hiring benchmarks for protected veterans each year or to adopt OFCCP’s annual national benchmark. As a result of this requirement, contractors must compare the percentage of their employees who are protected veterans in each of their establishments to whichever hiring benchmark they use. Contractors can use these comparisons to assess the effectiveness of their veteran outreach and recruitment efforts.

Contractors and subcontractors can also find the annual national benchmark and data for calculating individual hiring benchmarks on the OFCCP website.