What the Rescission of EO 11246 Means for Veterans’ Employment: Key Updates on VEVRAA

Quick Hits

• The DOL is proposing modifications of the VEVRAA regulations to reflect the rescission of Executive Order 11246 while maintaining existing affirmative action obligations for federal contractors to support protected veterans.
• Despite these proposed changes in enforcement, federal contractors must continue to prepare affirmative action plans, engage in outreach and recruitment for protected veterans, and adhere to recordkeeping requirements.
• Employers may want to ensure that AAPs are up-to-date and compliant with VEVRAA regulations and continue collecting self-identification information from job applicants and employees.

What Is VEVRAAA

VEVRAA prohibits employment discrimination against protected veterans and requires federal contractors and subcontractors to take affirmative action to employ qualified veterans, including those with disabilities, recently separated veterans, active-duty wartime or campaign badge veterans, and Armed Forces medal veterans. Specifically, the law applies to federal contractors and subcontractors with a contract of $150,000 or more. Additionally, those with fifty or more employees must prepare written affirmative action programs (AAPs).

What Could Change

On July 1, 2025, the DOL published a proposed rule to modify the VEVRAA regulations to align with the rescission of EO 11246. The proposed rule would remove references to EO 11246 and would add administrative enforcement proceeding provisions directly to the VEVRAA regulations in 41 CFR part 60-300.

The changes come as the Trump administration’s budget plan for fiscal year (FY) 2026 proposed shifting the enforcement of VEVRAA to the Veterans’ Employment and Training Service (VETS), another agency within the DOL. The shift is part of the administration’s proposed plan to wind down the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFFCP), likely sometime in 2026, as it has been stripped of most of its enforcement authority, though a complete dismantling of the agency will require congressional approval and there have been proposals to keep the OFCCP operational.

In the meantime, the OFCCP continues to retain responsibility for enforcing federal contracting nondiscrimination and affirmative action obligations under VEVRAA. On July 2, 2025, the DOL lifted the abeyance on the OFCCP’s enforcement activities under VEVRAA, including the resumption of investigations and compliance reviews. The DOL has also reposted VEVRAA Contractor Resources and Veteran Resources on the OFCCP website. The DOL has further updated its frequently asked questions (FAQ) guidance for VEVRAA.

What Compliance Obligations Remain

The proposed changes to the VEVRAA regulations primarily adjust for the rescission of EO 11246, and several requirements remain unaffected. According to the proposed rule changes, employers must continue to prepare and maintain affirmative action plans (AAPs) for protected veterans and comply with all current obligations related to outreach, recruitment, job listing, and recordkeeping.

• AAPs—Federal contractors must continue to prepare and maintain AAPs for protected veterans, including all current obligations related to outreach, recruitment, job listing, recordkeeping, and the inclusion of the EO 11246 clause in contracts.
• Outreach and Recruitment—Federal contractors must make outreach and recruitment efforts designed to attract protected veterans, evaluate the effectiveness of such efforts, and adjust if not successful.
• Self-Identification—Federal contractors must provide applicants the opportunity to self-identify as a protected veteran both before and after an offer and use this data to assess the effectiveness of outreach and recruitment efforts.
• Benchmarking—The VEVRAA regulations require federal contractors to establish a hiring benchmark for protected veterans each year as part of their written affirmative action plans. The benchmark may be equal to the national benchmark published by the DOL. In July 2025, an updated hiring benchmark under VEVRAA was released, indicating that the national percentage of veterans in the civilian labor force is 5.1 percent, a slight decrease from the 5.2 percent benchmark in 2024.
• “Know Your Rights” Poster—The regulations require that federal contractors provide a “Know Your Rights” poster in a “form that is accessible and understandable” to individuals with disabilities and disabled veterans.
• Recordkeeping—Federal contractors are required to maintain records on recruitment and outreach efforts for a minimum of three years.
• VETS–4212 Reporting—Federal contractors are required to file the VETS-4212 report which is due by September 30 each year. This filing reports the number of protected veterans among current employees and hires.

What It Means for Employers

Employers may want to take note that VEVRAA’s affirmative action requirements for protected veterans remain in place and are likely to continue following the rescission of EO 11246 and possible shutdown of the OFCCP. As such, employers may want to ensure that AAPs are up-to-date and compliant with VEVRAA regulations and continue collecting self-identification information from job applicants and employees. However, the regulatory landscape continues to evolve, and contractors may want to prepare for potential changes to compliance obligations.

Ogletree Deakins’ Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Compliance Practice Group, Government Contracting and Reporting Practice Group, and Workforce Analytics and Compliance Practice Group will continue to monitor developments and will provide updates on the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Compliance, Government Contracting and Reporting, Government Contractors, and Workforce Analytics and Compliance blogs as additional information becomes available.

This article and more information on how the Trump administration’s actions impact employers can be found on Ogletree Deakins’ Administration Resource Hub.

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