During a webcast from its Washington offices, the U.S. Department of Labor today honored 835 companies from across the country for their dedication to employing and keeping U.S. military veterans.
The 2022 Honoring Investments in Recruiting and Employing American Military Veterans medallion awards, which are given annually to firms who meet certain requirements for the only federal-level veterans’ employment award, were handed at the event. More than 1,400 organizations have received an HIRE Vets Medallion Award since 2018.
James D. Rodriguez, Assistant Secretary for Veterans’ Employment and Training, gave the welcome remarks before Marty Walsh, Secretary of Labor, presided over an online roundtable discussion with the award recipients.
The HIRE Vets Medallion Award is the only federally recognized honor for veterans’ employment that acknowledges an organization’s dedication to hiring, retaining, and advancing the careers
What Is The HIRE Vets Medallion Award?
The Secretary of Labor is required by the Honoring Investments in Recruiting and Employing American Military Veterans Act of 2017 (HIRE Vets Act or the Act) to establish a program that acknowledges employer efforts to attract, hire, and retain veterans. Employer-applicants who satisfy the rule’s requirements are given the “HIRE Vets Medallion Award.”
According to the Act, there are various rewards for small employers (fewer than 50 employees), medium employers (50–499 employees), and large employers (500+ employees) (50 or fewer employees). Platinum and gold are the other two reward tiers.
Each award has requirements that the company must meet. The applicant’s self-attestation is used to verify these requirements, and the U.S. Department of Labor also checks for any potential violations of veteran-related DOL labor rules. On August 18, 2017, a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking was
DOL’s Veterans’ Employment and Training Service (VETS) thoroughly evaluated and carefully considered all comments received. The Final Rule, which was released by the Secretary on November 9, 2017, is now available on the Federal Register website. The Final Rule went into effect in January 2018, and applications for this award commenced in January 2019.
Level (platinum or gold) and employer size affect the criteria for recognition (large, medium, and small). However, the following metrics serve as the basis for the majority of the award criteria:
1. The proportion of veterans hired over the previous year;
2. Percentage of veterans who have been employed for at least a year;
3. Percentage of veterans in the workforce;
4. Providing a veteran-focused organization or support network to help newly hired veterans integrate, including coaching and mentorship;
5. Initiatives to improve veteran employees’ leadership abilities while they are still employed;
6. The employment of a committed human resources professional or programs to promote veteran employee hiring, training, and retention;
7. Giving employees in the National Guard or Reserve who are on active duty in the United States compensation that is sufficient to combine with their active duty pay to reach a combined level of income commensurate with their prior wage;
8. Offering a tuition assistance program to help veteran employees in continuing their education while they are employed; and
9. An employer that has been subject to one of the following labor laws and has a favorable labor law decision, stipulated agreement, contract debarment, or contract termination, as stated in the rule, is not entitled to receive an award: Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act, often known as the Uniform Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA).
Most awards do not demand that the employer-applicant meet all of the aforementioned requirements.
The Veterans’ Employment and Training Service (VETS) of the Department of Labor was able to run applications initially, spread the word about the HIRE Vets Medallion Program, and help 239 firms gain recognition thanks to the 2018 HIRE Vets Program Demonstration. 429 employers received the HIRE Vets Medallion Award in the 2019 cycle, 675 in the 2020 cycle, and 849 in the 2021 season.
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