November Federal Contractors With Affirmative Action Responsiblities For Veterans

PL 107-288 (HR 4015)
November 7, 2002
JOBS FOR VETERANS ACT
*2035 "(a)(1) Any contract in the amount of $100,000 or more entered into by any department or agency of the United States for the procurement of personal property and nonpersonal services (including construction) for the United States, shall contain a provision requiring that the party contracting with the United States take affirmative action to employ and advance in employment qualified covered veterans. This section applies to any subcontract in the amount of $100,000 or more entered into by a prime contractor in carrying out any such contract.

Reflecting the rapid growth of federal government contracting in recent years, as of November 2009 there are presently 34,315 businesses contractually required to provide affirmative action in hiring and promotion to qualified veterans as well as perform active outreach to bring in prospective veterans as job applicants. The 34,315 are located in 5,992 cities in 2,019 counties/parishes across the country; a full two-thirds of the nation's counties. In the last month there was a net increase of over 3,000 businesses.

Of particular importance to many veterans are the 11,273 involved in blue collar industrial sectors; declining sectors where, because of spot replacement hiring, affirmative action in hiring really means something.

The names and addresses of these employers are found nowhere else but embedded in the version of The Job Coach Suite available to LVERs/DVOPs and VA staff. Congress intended for America's veterans to know this valuable employment information.

The law on veterans affirmative action has been on the books for over seven years. No one else has stepped forward to make sure veterans in need have this important edge up on hiring so we decided it is time that it be done. Not because it is the law, but simply because it's the right thing to do. Veterans deserve this... and so much more.