A Lesser-Known Compliance Requirement in VEVRAA
While the requirement that Federal Contractors must take affirmative action for women and minorities has gone away, federal contractors that meet the thresholds must still develop written affirmative action programs for individuals with disabilities (IWDs) and protected veterans. As part of these programs, Federal Contractors must target their outreach efforts to these groups for new job postings, and reasonable accommodations must be made for IWDs and disabled veterans.
VEVRAA Requires ESDS Postings
A lesser-known requirement for the Veterans AAP is that contractors must list their open positions with state-operated employment service delivery systems (ESDS). These are also known as state job boards or banks. The current threshold for mandatory job listings is a single Federal contract of $150,000 or more. Contrary to other AAP thresholds, there is no minimum employee headcount for this requirement.
As soon as an employer crosses the $150,000 contract threshold, they must immediately list all open positions that exist when the contract is executed with the ESDS in the states where they are hiring. Most state ESDS websites have an online portal where an employer can register and post their open positions to quickly comply with this regulation. Each job posting should be included in the ESDS for the state where the work will occur, or where the employee will report to. Remote positions can be listed either in the state of the company headquarters, or in the state where the employee will report to.
Exceptions to the ESDS posting requirement include executive level roles (typically your 1.1 EEO classifications), positions that are intended to be filled internally, and temporary positions that last three days or less.
ESDS Notification Process
When a federal contractor crosses the requirement threshold, it must notify the ESDS for each state where they have open positions that they are a Federal Contractor and they are requesting priority veteran referrals from the state. This notification should include the company name, company address, and hiring point of contact at each location within the state. They should also include details on their other hiring activities and whether the company uses a third party or job search organization to assist in hiring.
Federal contractors must also update each relevant ESDS whenever changes are made to their establishments within that state, for as long it maintains a Federal contract of $150,000 or more.
Document Your ESDS Activity!
Contractors with less than 150 employees should keep records of postings for one year, while companies with 150 + employees should keep records for two years. While this record keeping does not need to be formal, it should include details about which jobs were posted, when they were posted, if a hire occurred from the resource, and when the posting was removed. It is also recommended that you take screenshots of your posted jobs as proof of postings. If for some reason a job positing is not posted to an ESDS, document why that did not occur, and if it was a mistake, how it will be rectified moving forward.
ESDS Automation Opportunities
While it is possible to manually post to each state job board individually, if a company is continuously hiring for multiple jobs in multiple states, they may want to consider using a service to handle their ESDS registration and management. Using these services will ensure your positions are properly posted to the appropriate ESDS accounts, provide proof of your job listings, and notify ESDS regularly to request veteran priority referrals. Posting directly to each ESDS is most cost-effective, however, when budgets allow, using an ESDS management company removes the manual legwork required to fulfill the obligation, saving time and resources for companies that are posting and hiring at higher rates.
If you are interested in learning more about how AAP Compliance can help your organization stay up to date with Federal regulations, contact us to schedule a call with our team today!