(Excerpted from The Book of U.S. Government Jobs Dennis V. Damp)

When an agency advertises job vacancies through the Office of Personnel Management or locally through direct hire authority the agency must select from the top rated eligible applicants. The official may not pass over a Veterans Prefer ence eligible, however, and appoint a nonpreference eligible lower on the list unless the reasons for passing over the veteran are sufficient.

Veterans preference gives special consideration to eligible veterans looking for federal employment. Veterans who are disabled or who served on active duty in the United States Armed Forces during certain specified time periods or in military campaigns are entitled to preference over nonveterans both in hiring into the fed eral civil service and in retention during reductions in force. There are two classes of preference for honorably discharged veterans:

Five-Point Preference

Five-point preference is given to those honorable separated veterans (this means an honorable or general discharge) who served on active duty (not active duty for training) in the Armed Forces: during any war (this means a war declared by Congress, the last of which was World War II);
For more than 180 consecutive days, any part of which occurred after 1/31/55 and before 10/15/76. during the period April 28, 1952, through July 1, 1955; in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign medal has been authorized, such as El Salvador, Lebanon, Granada,Panama, Southwest Asia, Somalia, and Haiti.

Medal holders and Gulf War veterans who originally enlisted after September 7, 1980, or entered on active duty on or after October 14, 1982, without having previously completed 24 months of continuous active duty, must have served con tinuously for 24 months or the full period called or ordered to active duty.

Effective on October 1, 1980, military retirees at or above the rank of major or equivalent, are not entitled to preference unless they qualify as isabled veterans.

Ten-Point Preference

Ten-point preference is given to:

* those honorably separated veterans who 1) qualify as disabled veterans because they have served on active duty in the Armed Forces at any time and have a present service-connected disability or are receiving compensation, disability retirement benefits, or pension from the military or the Department of Veterans Affairs; or 2) are Purple Heart recipients;

* the spouse of a veteran unable to work because of a service- connected dis ability;

* the unmarried widow of certain deceased veterans; and

* the mother of a veteran who died in service or who is permanently and totally disabled.

* When applying for Federal jobs, eligible veterans should claim preference on their application or resume. Applicants claiming 10-point preference must com plete form SF-15, Application for 10-Point Veteran Preference. This form is included in the Quick & Easy Federal Jobs Kit Software program. Veterans who are still in the service may be granted 5 points tentative preference on the basis of information contained in their applications, but they must produce a DD Form 214 prior to appointment to document entitlement to preference.

Note: Reservists who are retired from the Reserves but are not receiving retired pay are not considered "retired military" for purposes of veterans' preference.

The Department of Labor's Office of the Assistant Secretary for Policy and Veterans' Employment and Training Service developed an "expert system" to help veterans receive the preferences to which they are entitled. Two versions of this system are currently available, both of which help he veterans determine the type of preference to which they are entitled, the benefits associated with the preference and the steps necessary to file a complaint due to the failure of a Federal Agency to provide those benefits. To find out whether you qualify for veterans' preference, visit America's Job Bank, operated by the Department of Labor (DOL). The Inter net address for the veterans' preference program is:

http://www.dol.gov/dol/vets/public/programs/programs/preference/main.htm

(State employment service offices have veteran representatives available to assist veterans in gaining access to this information.)

WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

If you apply for a federal job, your knowledge, skills and abilities will be rated on a point system. You will receive points for related education, experience, spe cial skills, awards, and written tests if required. The maximum points anyone can accumulate is 100. If an eligible five-point preference candidate accumulates 90 points, five additional points are awarded on preference for a total score of 95. Therefore, the preference veteran, in most cases, must be hired before an agency can hire anyone with less than 95 points in this example. A 10-point preference vet would have a total score of 100.

Hiring preference in civil service examinations is awarded regardless of scores. Qualified veterans with a compensable service-connected disability of 10 percent or more are placed at the top of most civil service examination registers, except for scientific and professional jobs at GS-9 or higher.

A federal agency hiring candidates from an examination list must consider the top three available candidates for each vacancy. An agency may not pass over a candidate with preference and select an individual without preference who has the same or lower score, unless OPM approves the agency's reasons.

VETERANS READJUSTMENT APPOINTMENTS (VRAs)

The VRA is a special authority by which agencies can appoint an eligible vet eran without competition. The VRA is an excepted appointment to a position that is otherwise in the competitive service. After 2 years of satisfactory service, the veteran is converted to a career-conditional appointment in the competitive ser vice. (Note, however, that a veteran may be given a noncompetitive temporary or term appointment based on VRA eligibility. These appointments do not lead to career jobs.)

When two or more VRA applicants are preference eligibles, the agency must apply veterans' preference as required by law. (While all VRA eligibles have served in the Armed Forces, they do not necessarily meet the eligibility require ments for veterans' preference under section 2108 of title 5, United States Code.)

Eligibility: To be eligible for a VRA appointment, a veteran must: have served on active duty in the Armed Forces for more than 180 days and received other than a dishonorable discharge.
The 180-day requirement does not apply to veterans released from active duty because of a service-connected disability, or to members of a Reserve component ordered to active duty during a period of war or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign or expeditionary medal is authorized.

For VRA eligibility, the term "period of war" includes the Vietnam era and the Persian Gulf War beginning August 2, 1990 and ending November 30, 1995, but does not include other operations such as Panama and Somalia.

There are 2 groups of eligibles under the VRA:

1) Vietnam-era veterans, i.e., those who served between August 5, 1964 (or February 28, 1961 for those who actually served in the Republic of Vietnam), and May 7, 1975, are eligible for a VRA appointment until the later of December 31, 1995, or 10 years following their last release from active duty. (This time period does not apply to 30 percent or more disabled veterans.); and

2) Post-Vietnam-era veterans, i.e., those who first served after May 7, 1975, are eligible until December 31, 1999, or 10 years following their last release from active duty, whichever is later.

The Book of U.S. Government Jobs - 7th edition provides detailed informa tion on how to fill out your applications and investigate jobs with all agencies. This title further clarified the VRA options such as:

Terms of Employment
How to Apply
Excepted Appointment Under Schedule B
30% Disabled Employment Options

ORDER The Book of U.S. Government Jobs - 7th edition

CLICK HERE TO ORDER NOW

MILITARY & CIVILIAN SPONSOR DEPENDENT HIRING

These programs are covered in detail in the all new 7th edition of The Book of U.S. Government Jobs. The programs covered are:

Military Spouse Preference Program
Military Dependent Hiring Programs
NAFI Non-Appropriated Fund Positions
Family Member Preference

Veterans Preference
http://www.dol.gov/dol/vets/public/programs/programs/preference/vetspref.htm

From the Website of the U.S. Department of Labor

Veterans' Preference Advisor

Introduction
Veterans' Employment and Training Service (VETS)

Since the time of the Civil War, veterans of the Armed Forces have been given some degree of preference in appointments to Federal jobs. Recognizing that sacri fices are made by those serving in the Armed Forces, Congress enacted laws to prevent veterans seeking Federal employment from being penalized because of the time spent in the military service.

By law (Title 5 USC, Section 2108), veterans who are disabled or who serve on active duty in the Armed Forces during certain specified time periods or in military campaigns are entitled to preference over non-veterans both in Federal hiring prac tices and in retention during reductions in force (RIF)..

The Defense Authorization Act of Fiscal Year 1998 (Public Law 105-85) extends Veterans' Preference to individuals who served on active duty during the Gulf War who are otherwise eligible, and to participants in Operation Joint Endeavor or Operation Joint Guard in the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina who were awarded the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (AFEM).

Preference does not have as its goal the placement of a veteran in every vacant Federal job; this would be incompatible with the merit principle of public employ ment. Nor does it apply to promotions or other in-service actions. However, prefer ence does provide a uniform method by which special consideration is given to qualified veterans seeking Federal employment.

Preference applies in hiring from civil service examinations, for most excepted service jobs, and when agencies make temporary appointments or use direct hire and delegated examining authorities from the U.S. Office of Personnel Manage ment (OPM). OPM's Vet Guide explains the special rights and privileges that vet erans enjoy in Federal civil service employment and the VetsInfo Guide explains how veteran's preference and the special appointing authorities for veterans oper ate within the system.

The Department of Labor's Office of the Assistant Secretary for Policy (OASP) and Veterans' Employment and Training Service (VETS) developed an "expert system" to help veterans receive the preferences to which they are entitled. This system is designed to help veterans determine the type of preference to which they are entitled, the benefits associated with the preference and the steps necessary to file a complaint due to the failure of a Federal agency to provide those benefits.

CHANGES TO VETERANS' PREFERENCE AS PROVIDED IN THE VET ERAN
EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY ACT OF 1998 (VEOA)

(Public Law 105-339)

1.Preference Eligibles who allege that an agency has violated such individual's rights under any statute or regulation relating to veterans' preference may file a complaint with the Secretary of Labor, The Veterans Employment and Training Service Agency (VETS).

2. Complaints must be filed within 60 days after the date of the alleged violation.

3. Not earlier than 61 days after filing a complaint with VETS, complainants may appeal their case to the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB).

4. If the MSPB has not issued a decision within 120 days, claimants may seek judi cial redress in the US District Courts. Details of these procedures are identified in section 3 of the VEOA,
PL 105-339.

5. Veterans' preference is extended to now apply to employee positions in the Gov ernment Accounting Office, Office of the President, certain legislative and judicial positions, and in Reduction In Force (RIF) situations, the Federal Aviation Agency (FAA).

6. Failure to comply with veterans' preference requirements will be treated as a Prohibited Personnel Practice (PPP) for certain purposes. To knowingly take, rec ommend, or approve any personnel action if the failure to take such action would violate veterans preference requirements or to fail to take, recommend or approve any personnel action if the failure to take such
action would violate veterans' preference requirements is a PPP.

VETERANS EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES ACT (VEOA)