Nita Beecher, Mercer Networks

Jolene Jefferies, DirectEmployers Association January 15, 2013

Improving Employment Outcomes for Veterans

Today’s Objectives and Learning Outcomes:

1. Learn About DirectEmployers Association

2. Highlights of the Proposed §4212 Regulations

3. Conduct a Gap Analysis NOW to Assess Internal Readiness for Increased

Regulatory Compliance Requirements

4. Develop a Strategy to Address Gaps & Ensure Preparedness

5. Research Veteran Best Practices by Other Successful Employers

6. Receive Additional Resources for Recruiting & Retaining Veterans

Who is DirectEmployers Association?

DirectEmployers Association is a nonprofit HR consortium of leading global

employers formed to improve labor market efficiency through the sharing

of best practices, research and the development of technology.

600+ Member Companies – Over 90% Represent Fortune 500 & Fortune 1000

17 Board Members – Member Companies

Mission

To provide employers an employment network that is cost-effective,

improves labor market efficiency, and reaches an ethnically diverse

national and international workforce.

Definitional Changes

Workforce Composition Goals / Benchmarks

Self-identification Early & Often

Outreach, Outreach, Outreach

New Reasonable Accommodation Process

Data Collection, Analysis & Recordkeeping

Transparency and Accountability

Training

Annual Report

Priority Consideration

Definitional Changes

► Covered veteran >>> “protected veteran”

Includes special disabled, Vietnam-era, recently

separated and active duty wartime or campaign

badge veterans

►Vets 100/100A categories not changed

VETS 100 categories

(1) Special disabled veterans;

(2) Veterans of the Vietnam era;

(3) Veterans who served on active duty in the U.S.

military during a war on in campaign or expedition

for which a campaign badge has been authorized; and

(4) Recently separated veterans (veterans within one

year from discharge or release from active duty).

VETS 100A categories

1)Disabled veterans;

2) Veterans who served on active duty in the U.S.

military during a war or campaign or expedition

for which a campaign badge is awarded;

3) Veterans who, while serving on active duty in

the Armed Forces, participated in a United States

military operation for which an Armed Forces

service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive

Order 12985; and

4) Recently separated veterans (veterans within 36

months from discharge or release from active

duty).

Workforce Composition Goals / Benchmarks Goal established by contractor considering:

►% vets in civilian labor force

►# vets who participated in ESDS/Department of Veterans’

Employment & Training Service

► referral, applicant & hiring ratios

► effectiveness of contractor's external outreach & recruitment

efforts

►any other factors affecting availability of qualified protected

veterans

Self-identification Early & Often

► Pre-offer

Contractor to invite all applicants to self id as protected

veteran based on description provided by OFCCP

► Post offer/pre-employment

Contractor to invite all offerees to self id as special disabled,

Vietnam era, recently separated veterans, active duty wartime

or campaign badge veterans based on language provided by

OFCCP

Outreach, Outreach, Outreach Must provide job vacancy information to the appropriate ESDS “in

the manner required by the service”

►provide notice that federal contractor, contact information of

hiring official and request for priority referrals of veterans

Must provide information re: staffing or temp agencies used

►Cannot rely on 3rd party to do it correctly

►Linkage agreements

►Local Vets Rep

►National Resource Directory

►One more from list

New Reasonable Accommodation Process Rationale for rejections and information regarding

accommodations:

► Written reasons for each decision to reject for hire, promotion

or training

►Description of accommodations

• considered for rejection

• provided for disabled vets selected for hire,

promotion or training

Must seek advice of applicants regarding accommodations, when

applicable

If undue hardship, disabled vet may cover cost of the

accommodation

Data Collection, Analysis & Recordkeeping Must prepare quantitative measurements & comparisons for vets

annually and maintain them for 5 years:

►priority referrals of vets /all referrals from ESDS

►applicant ratio: vet apps/ total applicants

►hiring ratio: vet hires / total hires

►job fill ratio of openings to filled openings

Primary indicator of effectiveness—whether qualified vets

hired

Must review personnel processes annually including physical and

mental job qualification standards

For “direct threat” – a statement of the reasons supporting the

belief of the direct threat

Transparency and Accountability EO Clause verbatim in subcontracts & purchase orders

► Very long; impractical

Retain records for 5 years

Send written notification of AA policies & efforts to

subcontractors, including vendors & suppliers, to request

compliance by them

ID official responsible for contractor’s affirmative action activities

on ALL internal and external communications re: affirmative

action

CEO must publicly & personally support contractor’s affirmative

action obligations

Post notice for employees working offsite

Training

Must hold annual meetings with employees to discuss affirmative

action policies and explain responsibilities

Must provide ADDITIONAL training to all personnel involved in the

recruitment, screening, selection, promotion, disciplinary, and

related processes on

► The benefits of employing veterans

► Appropriate sensitivity toward applicants, and

► The legal responsibilities of contractor and its agents

regarding veterans

Must record attendance and training provider and maintain 5

years

Annual Report & Priority Consideration

Still required to submit VETS 100/100A

• Local employment service offices already give priority

referral to protected veterans for jobs listed by a

Federal contractor

• OFCCP will now expect/ measure hiring from priority

referrals

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS SPECIFIC TO HIRING VETERANS

Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for Section 4212 (VEVRAA) – released April 2011

• RESOURCES:

For a copy of the Proposed Regulations as published in the Federal Register, go to:

http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2011/pdf/2011-8693.pdf

Proposed Regulations by OFCCP Seek to Advance Employment Protections for Veterans

http://www.directemployers.org/2011/06/07/proposed-regulations-by-ofccp-seek-to-

advance-employment-protections-for-veterans/

DirectEmployers Association Responds to OFCCP’s Proposed Regulations for Veterans

http://www.directemployers.org/2011/07/22/directemployers-association-responds/

This blog post includes links to the comment letters from both DirectEmployers

Association and the National Association of State Workforce Agencies. View other

comment letters at www.regulations.gov

After much discussion last year that the veterans

regulations would be issued before the election, OFCCP

has still not submitted the proposed regulations to OMB

for approval.

► Nevertheless, the DOL regulatory review still states

the final Section 503 and VEVRRA regulations are to be

issued in April 2013.

► It is unlikely the final Section 4212 regulations will

be issued in April 2013 but may be issued before the

end of FY 2013.

Assess Internal Readiness – Are You Prepared?

• OFCCP has not traditionally given contractors much lead time to

prepare when final regulations are issued

How prepared is your company to meet all the requirements as

proposed in the regulations?

Is your company doing more than merely posting open positions?

What can you start to do NOW in anticipation of the final rule?

• Start with an internal meeting — include HR Compliance Experts,

Recruiters, Legal, Labor Relations, Supply, Training, and Health

Services/Medical Departments — to begin the internal education

process ASAP regarding the proposed §4212 and §503 requirements

§4212 Assess Internal Readiness – Are You Prepared?

• Start your Gap Analysis by reviewing page 23388 of the Federal Register:

§503 Assess Internal Readiness – Are You Prepared?

• Start your Gap Analysis by reviewing page 77082 of the Federal Register:

Assess Internal Readiness – Are You Prepared?

• Develop a spreadsheet listing each requirement from pages 23388* and

77082* of the Federal Registers, and add these sections/columns:

Regulatory Requirements as Listed in Federal Register

Burden Description

Section of the Proposed Regulation

Similar Requirement in §4212 as in the §503 Proposed Regs (Yes or No) / Briefly Explain

Internal Assessment of Current Preparedness

Company Currently Meets Full Requirement

Company Meets Only Part of the Full Requirement (Explain)

Company’s Existing Process Does Not Meet Requirement At All

Requirements, Policies, Processes, Procedures, Training and/or Technology Needed to Close

the Gap Would Include (Explain)

Solution to Meet Compliance is Easy Fix, Challenging Fix, or Not Applicable

Estimated Time, Headcount and/or Labor Hours Needed To Meet Full Requirements

Estimated Cost To Meet Full Requirements

Action Plan

Desired or Targeted Completion Date

Priority Level

Assigned To / Owner

Comments and Additional Notes

*These pages of the Federal Register are a good place to start in assessing the regulatory requirements. However, be sure to assess

all detailed requirements of the regulations, as these lists are not all inclusive.

The Compliance Team

§4212 and §503

• Reviewed the regulatory changes

• Identified existing state of compliance

• Gap analysis

• Owners

• Created project proposal summaries

• Projected time frame for implementation

Presented findings to the HR leadership team

• Summary of changes

• Duplication of requirements

Held a meeting with HR partners for review of proposed regulations

• Staffing Team

• Compensation Team

• Training

• IT

Projected cost of implementation in 2013 budget

Current focus is on current regulations

Develop a Strategy to Address Gaps & Ensure Preparedness

What low-risk actions can you begin to implement NOW?

• Begin to identify veteran and disability partners and providers who can

refer veterans and disabled candidates to your organization that meet

the knowledge, skills, education and experience requirements for your

job types:

Establish a relationship and introduce your organization

Share information about your company and job opportunities

Identify potential partner activities with each partner or provider

Develop draft linkage agreement templates based on partner services (see Pipeline)

Veteran Partner Sources:

Go to the Member Pipeline (voice.directemployers.org) and click on Resources and then

Webinars and search for the session, Veteran Outreach: Partnering at the Local Level.

Click on additional resources and download the 33-page guide, Veteran Outreach and

Partnership Sources, for Employers. You’ll also find a Sample Linkage Agreement with a

Veteran Partner as well.

Develop a Strategy to Address Gaps & Ensure Preparedness

What low-risk actions can you begin to implement NOW?

• Identify a sound solution to meet the mandatory jobs listings

requirements with the nearest employment service delivery system:

DirectEmployers offers a service called Direct Compliance

http://www.directemployers.org/products-services/direct-compliance/

Develop a Strategy to Address Gaps & Ensure Preparedness

What low-risk actions can you begin to implement NOW?

Learn more about Direct Syndication http://www.directemployers.org/products-services/direct-syndication/

See all sites in the Direct Syndication Network http://images.directemployers.com/deorg/syndication/JobAlliancesList.pdf

Military Network Sites CASY/National Guard Employment Program http://casy.msccn.org/Employers/DirectEmployers_Job_Board.html

Honor Guard Network http://www.honorguardnetwork.org/Jobs/DirectJobsDatabase.aspx

Military Spouse Corporate Career Network

(MSCCN)

http://www.msccn.org/Employers/DirectEmployers_Job_Board.html

Milicruit http://milicruit.jobs

(DE members’ jobs will display on this site if they are active with an Milicruit event)

My Next Move for Veterans – U.S. DOL/ETA http://www.mynextmove.org/vets/find/browse?c=0

Access ‘Job Outlook’ and ‘Find Jobs’

NYWorks Veterans (New York State Workforce) http://nyworks-veterans.jobs/

RecruitMilitary http://recruitmilitary.com/

Save Our Veterans http://board.jobcentral.com/saveourveterans

SDWorks Veterans (South Dakota State

Workforce)

http://sdworks-veterans.jobs/

USA Cares http://jobs.usacares.org/

VetSuccess.gov – U.S. Dept. of Veteran Affairs http://vetsuccess.gov/jobs

VetCentral /Local Veteran Employment

Representatives & Disabled Veteran Outreach

Program Representatives (LVERS & DVOP’s)

Jobs are emailed by geographic location, consult your OFCCP Compliance

Reporting Tool in your Member Desktop

Jobs also appear on VetCentral search engine

http://vetcentral.us.jobs/vet_index.asp?stype=moc

US.jobs Veterans http://veterans.jobs

Veteran's Enterprise http://www.veteransenterprise.com/index.php/career-opportunities

WorkInIowa Veterans (Iowa State Workforce) http://workiniowa-veterans.jobs

WorkInOregon Veterans (Oregon State

Workforce)

http://workinoregon-veterans.jobs/

WorkInTexas Veterans (Texas State Workforce) http://workintexas-veterans.job

http://att-veterans.jobs

Highly Search Engine Optimized

Dynamic Footprint

Custom faceted

Analytics Equipped

Easy to add creative

Social-Sharing

Search Technology

http://workintexas-veterans.jobs

Develop a Strategy to Address Gaps & Ensure Preparedness

What low-risk actions can you begin to implement NOW?

• Establish an applicant referral source tracking process to identify, track

and measure sources of applicants and hires:

http://www.directemployers.org/products-services/direct-traffic/

Develop a Strategy to Address Gaps & Ensure Preparedness

What low-risk actions can you begin to implement NOW?

Tracking Source to Hire – DirectEmployers Can Help!

How do I get started?

1. Check with your ATS provider to see if they support Source Coding.

2. Find out if your website partners (e.g., the various job boards where your

company posts its job openings) will accept your company’s job postings

through the DirectEmployers’ Feeds.

3. Find out if your website partner has a DirectEmployers View Source.

Guidance:

1. Implement DirectEmployers Source Code with your ATS.

2. Move appropriate website partners to your DirectEmployers Feed.

3. Have ATS provider create individual Website Partner-Specific Source

Codes for the DE partner sites (e.g. sites in the syndication network) you

would like to track.

4. Connect your website partners with DirectEmployers to acquire a View

Source. Your DE Membership Development Specialist can help!

Call 866-268-6206.

ATS = Applicant Tracking System

Develop a Strategy to Address Gaps & Ensure Preparedness

What low-risk actions can you begin to implement NOW?

• Review your applicant disposition codes and definitions:

Track non-hired, but qualified veteran and disabled applicants, for potential

consideration for future job opportunities

• Develop a process to evaluate the physical and mental requirements of

the job description for each open/posted job vacancy.

• Examine your applicant tracking system (ATS) and determine how your

organization might solicit, track and store both the veteran and

disability status of applicants and hires, how you will disposition

rejected veteran and disabled candidates with an appropriate

explanation that accompanies their rejection record, how this

information will be separated and shielded from recruiters/decision

makers, and how privacy of confidential medical information received as

part of the process will be maintained.

Develop a Strategy to Address Gaps & Ensure Preparedness

What low-risk actions can you begin to implement NOW?

• Review the required contents of affirmative action programs for §4212 in

60-250.44 and 60-300.44 and for §503 in §60-741.44, and include these

requirements as part of your Gap Analysis spreadsheet to identify what

is currently being done internally and what may become mandatory in

the future.

• Add to the Gap Analysis spreadsheet all the requirements for the

reasonable accommodation process and compare your existing process

against the proposed regulations:

If your current accommodation process is decentralized, consider how centralizing

parts of the process may streamline and simplify the tracking and recordkeeping

requirements.

Research Veteran Practices of Leading Companies

Who is leading the way? What ideas might work for your company?

Leading Practices on Hiring Veterans

GI Jobs Top 100 Military Friendly Employers

http://www.gijobs.com/2012Top100.aspx

Companies Honored for Vet-Friendly Practices

http://www.shrm.org/publications/hrnews/pages/vet-friendly-workplaces.aspx

Best Practices for Hiring Veterans with Disabilities

National Organization on Disability

http://nod.org/for_business_leaders/employment_best_practices/

© 2011 DirectEmployers Association, a nonprofit

consortium of leading global employers

Nita Beecher

Nita.Beecher@mercer.com

Jolene Jefferies

Jolene@DirectEmployers.org