iThe Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (“OFCCP”) has released its 2024 Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act (“VEVRAA”) benchmark. Effective March 31, 2024, the new benchmark is 5.2%, a slight decrease from 2023’s 5.4% benchmark. This is OFCCP’s ninth reduction of the benchmark, which has steadily declined since its inception in 2014.
The VEVRAA Benchmark is the figure which federal contractors must use to assess the effectiveness of their outreach programs for the hiring of veterans. Contractors may either use OFCCP’s national benchmark or establish their own individualized benchmark using applicable statistics and other metrics set forth in OFCCP’s regulations (41 CFR § 60-300.45(b)(2)).
In addition, this year, OFCCP has published “two new examples to illustrate the use of the VEVRAA hiring benchmark”: 1) an example of the national benchmark and 2) an example of an individualized benchmark. OFCCP has also released a new Contractor Compliance Institute (CCI) course on the VEVRAA hiring benchmark, which covers “the purpose of the benchmark, how to establish the benchmark, how to assess the benchmark, and provides resources to support ongoing VEVRAA compliance efforts.”
