As announced by the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, the updated national percentage of veterans in the workforce is continuing to decline, now at 7 percent.

The OFCCP’s revised regulations implementing the Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act, effective in March 2014, require federal contractors to develop an annual hiring benchmark for protected veterans. This benchmark must be based on either (1) the national percentage of all veterans in the civilian labor force; or (2) a five-factor analysis taking into account various veteran and contractor statistics.

When the OFCCP’s new regulations were published in 2013, the national percentage of veterans in the civilian labor force was 8 percent. When the regulations went into effect in March 2014, the figure was 7.2 percent. Now, as of the end of calendar year 2014, the Bureau of Labor Statistics sets the figure at 7 percent.

Because the new 7 percent statistic is effective for 2015, it should be acceptable to develop all 2015 AAPs (at least those not already prepared) with a 7 percent hiring benchmark for those contractors choosing to use the national percentage of veterans in the labor force.