FAR 22.1302—Policy.
Plain-English Summary
FAR 22.1302 states the core policy for federal contractors and subcontractors covered by the Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA) and its implementing regulations. It covers four main employment obligations: posting all employment openings with the appropriate state or local employment service delivery system, except for executive and senior management positions, positions to be filled from within the contractor’s organization, and jobs lasting three days or less; taking affirmative action to employ, advance, and otherwise treat qualified individuals, including qualified disabled veterans, without discrimination based on protected veteran status; conducting outreach and positive recruitment designed to effectively recruit protected veterans; and establishing and applying an annual hiring benchmark for protected veterans at each establishment. It also includes a funding restriction for contracting officers: except for commercial products, commercial services, and contracts at or below the simplified acquisition threshold, the Government may not obligate or expend fiscal-year appropriated funds for personal property and nonpersonal services, including construction, with a contractor that has not submitted the required annual VETS-4212 report for the preceding fiscal year when the contractor was subject to the reporting requirement. In practice, this section links labor compliance to contract eligibility and payment authority, so contractors must maintain veterans’ employment compliance and reporting systems, and contracting officers must verify reporting status before award or funding actions where the rule applies.
Key Rules
Post job openings
Covered contractors and subcontractors must list all employment openings with the appropriate employment service delivery system where the opening occurs. The rule has limited exceptions for executive and senior management positions, positions to be filled from within the organization, and positions lasting three days or less.
Affirmative action required
Contractors must take affirmative action to employ, advance in employment, and otherwise treat qualified individuals without discrimination based on protected veteran status. This includes qualified disabled veterans and applies across employment practices, not just hiring.
Recruit protected veterans
Contractors must undertake outreach and positive recruitment activities that are reasonably designed to effectively recruit protected veterans. The requirement is proactive, meaning passive posting alone is not enough if it is not reasonably effective.
Set annual benchmark
Each establishment must establish a hiring benchmark for protected veterans and apply it annually in the manner prescribed by the Secretary of Labor’s regulations. The benchmark is a compliance tool used to measure progress in veteran hiring.
VETS-4212 reporting condition
For contracts other than commercial products or commercial services, and other than contracts at or below the simplified acquisition threshold, contracting officers may not obligate or expend appropriated funds for personal property and nonpersonal services, including construction, with a contractor that failed to submit the required annual VETS-4212 report for the preceding fiscal year when the contractor was subject to that reporting requirement.
Reporting tied to eligibility
The funding restriction applies only if the contractor was actually subject to the VETS-4212 reporting requirement for the prior fiscal year. If the contractor was not subject to that requirement, the prohibition on obligating or expending funds does not apply.
Responsibilities
Contractors
List covered job openings with the appropriate employment service delivery system; implement affirmative action and nondiscrimination practices for protected veterans; conduct outreach and positive recruitment; establish and apply annual hiring benchmarks at each establishment; and submit the annual VETS-4212 report when subject to the reporting requirement.
Subcontractors
Comply with the same veterans’ employment obligations when entering into covered subcontracts, including job listing, affirmative action, outreach, benchmark, and reporting requirements as applicable under the Act and implementing regulations.
Contracting Officers
Do not obligate or expend appropriated funds for covered personal property and nonpersonal services contracts, including construction, unless the contractor has submitted the required VETS-4212 report for the preceding fiscal year when the contractor was subject to the reporting requirement; apply the exceptions for commercial products, commercial services, and simplified acquisition threshold contracts.
Agency
Ensure procurement actions follow the funding restriction and support compliance oversight through contract administration and coordination with labor compliance requirements.
Secretary of Labor
Prescribe the regulations governing how contractors establish and apply the annual protected veteran hiring benchmark and the related compliance framework.
Practical Implications
Contractors need a reliable process for posting vacancies, because failure to list openings with the correct employment service delivery system can create compliance issues even when hiring decisions are otherwise lawful.
The affirmative action and outreach duties are broader than anti-discrimination alone; contractors should document recruitment sources, outreach efforts, and veteran hiring outcomes to show they are actively trying to recruit protected veterans.
The annual benchmark requirement means each establishment should track veteran hiring data separately and review whether its benchmark methodology and annual application are current and documented.
Contracting officers should check VETS-4212 status before award or funding actions in covered procurements, especially for noncommercial, above-threshold buys, because missing reports can block obligation or expenditure of funds.
A common pitfall is assuming the reporting restriction applies to every contract; it does not apply to commercial products, commercial services, or contracts at or below the simplified acquisition threshold, and it only applies when the contractor was subject to the prior-year reporting requirement.
Official Regulatory Text
(a) Contractors and subcontractors, when entering into contracts and subcontracts subject to the Act, are required to- (1) List all employment openings, with the appropriate employment service delivery system where the opening occurs, except for- (i) Executive and senior management positions; (ii) Positions to be filled from within the contractor's organization; and (iii) Positions lasting three days or less. (2) Take affirmative action to employ, advance in employment, and otherwise treat qualified individuals, including qualified disabled veterans, without discrimination based upon their status as a protected veteran, in all employment practices; (3) Undertake appropriate outreach and positive recruitment activities that are reasonably designed to effectively recruit protected veterans; and (4) ) Establish a hiring benchmark and apply it to hiring of protected veterans in each establishment, on an annual basis, in the manner prescribed in the regulations of the Secretary of Labor. (b) Except for contracts for commercial products or commercial services, or contracts that do not exceed the simplified acquisition threshold, contracting officers must not obligate or expend funds appropriated for the agency for a fiscal year to enter into a contract for the procurement of personal property and nonpersonal services (including construction) with a contractor that has not submitted the required annual VETS-4212, Federal Contractor Veterans’ Employment Report (VETS-4212 Report), with respect to the preceding fiscal year if the contractor was subject to the reporting requirements of 38 U.S.C. 4212(d) for that fiscal year.