What Is a Protected Veteran? VEVRAA Definition and Status Checker
A protected veteran is a veteran who fits one of four classifications in the Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA): disabled veteran, recently separated veteran, active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran, or Armed Forces service medal veteran. The definitions are in 41 CFR 60-300.2, and they matter because a federal contractor with 50 or more employees and a contract of $200,000 or more must invite job applicants to say whether they are protected veterans. Use the checker below to see which classifications fit your answers, then read the exact definitions.
Maintained by Archie Chang · Sources checked against the regulations and statutes on October 31, 2026 · Methodology & sources
Protected veteran checker
Answer the five questions about your service. The checker applies the wording of 41 CFR 60-300.2 and lists every classification that fits, not only the first. It also gives the last day of the recently separated period, counting the discharge date as day one.
Your service
If you had more than one discharge or release from active duty, enter the most recent one, and ask the employer or OFCCP if the answer matters.
Result
Not enough answers yet
Answer every question to get a result.
Disabled veteran: Not answered (41 CFR 60-300.2(i))
Answer both questions about compensation and about a discharge or release because of a service-connected disability.
Recently separated veteran: Not answered (41 CFR 60-300.2(w))
Enter the date of your discharge or release from active duty.
Active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran: Not answered (41 CFR 60-300.2(b))
Answer whether you served on active duty during a war or in a campaign or expedition with an authorized campaign badge.
Armed Forces service medal veteran: Not answered (41 CFR 60-300.2(c))
Answer whether you took part, on active duty, in an operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded.
This checker is informational. It applies the regulation’s wording to your answers and does not decide your status for any employer or agency. The form an employer gives you is a self-identification: you answer it yourself.
How the dates are counted: the regulation says the three-year period begins on the date of the discharge or release but does not say how to count it. The checker treats that date as the first day, so the period ends the day before the third anniversary: a discharge on March 1, 2021 gives a last day of February 29, 2024, because 2024 is a leap year. For a discharge on February 29, 2024, the third anniversary would be February 29, 2027, which does not exist, so the checker counts it as March 1 and the last day is February 28, 2027. If your date is within a few days of the end, ask the employer or OFCCP.
The four categories of protected veteran
The regulation defines a protected veteran by pointing to four classifications:
“(q) Protected veteran means a veteran who is protected under the non-discrimination and affirmative action provisions of the Act; specifically, a veteran who may be classified as a “disabled veteran,” “recently separated veteran,” “active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran,” or an “Armed Forces service medal veteran,” as defined by this section.”
Each one, as 41 CFR 60-300.2 defines it (eCFR):
Disabled veteran
“(i) Disabled veteran means:
(1) A veteran of the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service who is entitled to compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, or
(2) A person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service-connected disability.”
Recently separated veteran
“(w) Recently separated veteran means any veteran during the three-year period beginning on the date of such veteran's discharge or release from active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service.”
Active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran
“(b) Active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran means a veteran who served on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service during a war or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized, under the laws administered by the Department of Defense.”
Armed Forces service medal veteran
“(c) Armed Forces service medal veteran means any veteran who, while serving on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service, participated in a United States military operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985 (61 FR 1209).”
The statute lists the same four groups as “covered veterans” in 38 U.S.C. 4212(a)(3)(A) (text). Every category begins with “a veteran”, and the regulation defines that word too:
“(ee) Veteran means a person who served in the active military, naval, or air service of the United States, and who was discharged or released therefrom under conditions other than dishonorable.”
Veteran, protected veteran and a VA disability rating
These are three different things. A veteran, in this regulation, is a person who served in the active military, naval, or air service and was discharged or released under conditions other than dishonorable. A protected veteran is a veteran in one of the four classifications above. A VA disability rating matters only for the disabled veteran classification, and only through the definition’s wording about entitlement to compensation; the second part of that definition, a discharge or release because of a service-connected disability, does not mention a rating. Many veterans are protected through the wartime or campaign badge or the service medal classification with no disability at all. For what a rating pays, see VA benefits by rating and the VA disability calculator.
Protected veteran status is also not the same as veterans’ preference in federal civil service hiring. That preference is defined by a different law, 5 U.S.C. 2108 (text), with its own wording. For example, its definition of a disabled veteran requires separation under honorable conditions:
“(2) “disabled veteran” means an individual who has served on active duty in the armed forces, (except as provided under section 2108a) has been separated therefrom under honorable conditions, and has established the present existence of a service-connected disability or is receiving compensation, disability retirement benefits, or pension because of a public statute administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs or a military department;”
VEVRAA does not guarantee a job either. The hiring benchmark that covered contractors set is, in the regulation’s words, not a quota (see the benchmark section below). If you are moving to a civilian job, the military to civilian pay calculator compares your military pay with a civilian salary, and the veterans hub lists the other veteran benefit tools.
Self-identification on a job application
A federal contractor with 50 or more employees and a contract of $200,000 or more has to invite applicants to say whether they believe they are protected veterans. That duty is in subpart C of part 60-300, which 60-300.1(b) says applies only as described in 60-300.40(a). A contractor with fewer than 50 employees is still covered by VEVRAA’s nondiscrimination rules but not by 60-300.42. The rule, 41 CFR 60-300.42 (eCFR), has a pre-offer invitation and a post-offer invitation:
“(a) Pre-offer. The contractor shall invite applicants to inform the contractor whether the applicant believes that he or she is a protected veteran who may be covered by the Act. This invitation may be included in the application materials for the position, but in any circumstance shall be provided to applicants prior to making an offer of employment to a job applicant.”
“(b) Post-offer. In addition to the invitation in paragraph (a) of this section, the contractor shall invite applicants to inform the contractor whether the applicant believes that he or she belongs to one or more of the specific categories of protected veteran for which the contractor is required to report pursuant to 41 CFR part 61-300. Such an invitation shall be made at any time after the offer of employment but before the applicant begins his or her job duties.”
What the invitation has to say, including that answering is voluntary:
“(c) The invitations referenced in paragraphs (a) and (b) of this section shall state that the contractor is a Federal contractor required to take affirmative action to employ and advance in employment protected veterans pursuant to the Act. The invitations also shall summarize the relevant portions of the Act and the contractor's affirmative action program. Furthermore, the invitations shall state that the information is being requested on a voluntary basis, that it will be kept confidential, that refusal to provide it will not subject the applicant to any adverse treatment, and that it will not be used in a manner inconsistent with the act. (An acceptable form for such an invitation is set forth in appendix B of this part.)”
“(e) The contractor shall keep all information on self-identification confidential. The contractor shall provide the information to OFCCP upon request. This information may be used only in accordance with this part.”
What the choices on the sample form mean
The regulation points to a sample invitation in Appendix B (eCFR). Employers may word their own forms differently, and this page does not print wording the sample lacks. The sample’s pre-offer text first lists the four definitions, then says:
“If you believe you belong to any of the categories of protected veterans listed above, please indicate by checking the appropriate box below.”
“[ ] I IDENTIFY AS ONE OR MORE OF THE CLASSIFICATIONS OF PROTECTED VETERAN LISTED ABOVE
[ ] I AM NOT A PROTECTED VETERAN”
So the first box is for a person who believes he or she fits one or more of the four classifications. The second box is for a person who does not believe he or she fits any of them, whether or not that person served. The post-offer text in the sample asks which of the four categories apply, and offers these two boxes:
“[ ] I am a protected veteran, but I choose not to self-identify the classifications to which I belong.
[ ] I am NOT a protected veteran.”
The sample form also says:
“Submission of this information is voluntary and refusal to provide it will not subject you to any adverse treatment.”
The answer you give on an application is your own statement. This page’s checker can help you read the definitions, but it does not decide your status, and no one at an employer can use the information outside the rule: the regulation says it may be used only in accordance with part 60-300.
Who the law covers
VEVRAA applies to federal contractors and subcontractors. The statute puts the obligation in the contract:
“Any contract in the amount of $100,000 or more entered into by any department or agency of the United States for the procurement of personal property and nonpersonal services (including construction) for the United States, shall contain a provision requiring that the party contracting with the United States take affirmative action to employ and advance in employment qualified covered veterans.”
The statute’s text still prints $100,000. The Federal Acquisition Regulation Council adjusts acquisition thresholds for inflation under 41 U.S.C. 1908, and the Department of Labor’s 2026 final rule records the result for VEVRAA:
“Further, effective October 1, 2025, the coverage threshold under VEVRAA increased from $150,000 to $200,000, in accordance with the inflationary adjustment requirements in 41 U.S.C. 1908.”
“The Act applies to all contracts and subcontracts for personal property and nonpersonal services (including construction) of $200,000 or more except as waived by the Secretary of Labor.”
The increase took effect October 1, 2025 (90 FR 41872, August 27, 2025). The regulation’s own text, 41 CFR 60-300.1(b) and 60-300.2, now reads $200,000 as well (60-300.1). Subpart C, which holds the affirmative action program and the invitation to self-identify, applies only to a contractor with 50 or more employees and a contract at that size:
“(a) The requirements of this subpart apply to every Government contractor that has 50 or more employees and a contract of $200,000 or more.”
Whether a particular employer is covered depends on its contracts, so the employer is the one to ask.
Hiring benchmark
Covered contractors with an affirmative action program set an annual hiring benchmark for protected veterans. One of the two methods in 41 CFR 60-300.45 (eCFR) is the national percentage of veterans in the civilian labor force:
“(1) Establish a benchmark equaling the national percentage of veterans in the civilian labor force, which will be published and updated annually on the OFCCP Web site; or”
“The benchmark is not a rigid and inflexible quota which must be met, nor is it to be considered either a ceiling or a floor for the employment of particular groups. Quotas are expressly forbidden.”
As of October 31, 2026, OFCCP’s national benchmark is 5.1%, effective July 30, 2025 (the previous one, 5.2%, ran from March 31, 2024 to July 29, 2025). OFCCP shows it here, and a contractor may instead set its own benchmark under 60-300.45(b)(2):
“Effective Date Range National Percentage of Veterans in the Civilian Labor Force
07/30/2025 - 5.1%”
The figure and its history are on OFCCP’s VEVRAA Hiring Benchmark page.
Regulatory status in 2026
VEVRAA is a statute, so an executive order cannot repeal it. What changed in 2025 and 2026 is the rule that implements it. This is the sequence in the Federal Register, with dates only:
- January 21, 2025: Executive Order 14173 revoked Executive Order 11246 (as the Department of Labor’s 2026 final rule describes it).
- July 1, 2025: the Department of Labor published a proposed rule, 90 FR 28485, to revise the VEVRAA regulations.
- October 1, 2025: the VEVRAA coverage threshold rose from $150,000 to $200,000 under the FAR inflation adjustment.
- August 21, 2026: OFCCP published a final rule, 91 FR 54234 (Docket No. OFCCP-2025-0002, RIN 1250-AA19), effective September 21, 2026.
- August 31, 2026: a correction to the amendatory instructions of that rule, 91 FR 55748, effective September 21, 2026.
“Executive Order 11246 was revoked by Executive Order 14173 on January 21, 2025.”
“While VEVRAA remains in effect, the revocation of Executive Order 11246 necessitates several revisions to the VEVRAA implementing regulations.”
“On July 1, 2025, DOL published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) in the Federal Register proposing specific revisions.”
“This rule is effective September 21, 2026.”
The final rule changed the thresholds and the cross-references to the revoked order. The definitions in 41 CFR 60-300.2 that this page quotes, for the four classifications and for “veteran”, were not among the text it changed. As of October 31, 2026 no later change to part 60-300 is shown in the eCFR, which was up to date through October 29, 2026.
Frequently asked questions
What does “I am not a protected veteran” mean on a job application?
On the sample invitation in Appendix B to 41 CFR part 60-300, it is one of the boxes offered under the sentence that begins If you believe you belong to any of the categories of protected veterans listed above. The categories are disabled veteran, recently separated veteran, active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran and Armed Forces service medal veteran. The box is for a person who does not believe he or she belongs to any of them, which includes a person who never served. The regulation says the invitation must state that the information is requested on a voluntary basis and that refusal to provide it will not subject the applicant to any adverse treatment. An employer’s own form can word the choices differently, so read the choices on the form you are given.
Is a 0% rating a disabled veteran under VEVRAA?
The regulation does not answer that by rating. Its definition of a disabled veteran has two parts: a veteran who is entitled to compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, or a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service-connected disability. The text does not mention a minimum rating or percentage. Whether a person with a 0% rating is entitled to compensation is a question for the Department of Veterans Affairs, and this page does not decide it. The second part does not depend on a rating at all. If you are unsure, the Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs can say how it applies the definition.
Do I have to self-identify as a protected veteran?
No. The regulation says the invitation must state that the information is requested on a voluntary basis, that it will be kept confidential, and that refusal to provide it will not subject the applicant to any adverse treatment. The duty to invite applicants to self-identify is in subpart C of part 60-300, which applies to a contractor with 50 or more employees and a contract of $200,000 or more (41 CFR 60-300.1(b), 60-300.40(a)). Such a contractor must invite applicants before making an offer, and must invite them again after the offer and before they start work to find out which category applies.
How long does recently separated veteran status last?
The regulation defines a recently separated veteran as any veteran during the three-year period beginning on the date of the discharge or release from active duty. The checker counts the discharge date as the first day, so the period ends the day before the third anniversary. For a discharge on February 29 it counts the third anniversary as March 1 when that year has no February 29. The regulation does not spell out the counting, so ask the employer if your date falls close to the end. The definitions of the other three categories contain no time limit.
Does being a protected veteran mean the employer must hire me?
No. VEVRAA requires covered contractors to take affirmative action to employ and advance in employment qualified covered veterans. The regulation says its hiring benchmark is not a rigid and inflexible quota, and that quotas are expressly forbidden. This is separate from the veterans’ preference in federal civil service hiring, which has its own definitions in 5 U.S.C. 2108, including that a disabled veteran there has been separated under honorable conditions.
Which employers have to ask me to self-identify?
VEVRAA itself, with its nondiscrimination rules, covers federal contractors and subcontractors with a contract or subcontract of $200,000 or more. Since October 1, 2025 that threshold is $200,000, up from $150,000, under the inflation adjustment of 41 U.S.C. 1908; the statute text in 38 U.S.C. 4212 still prints $100,000. The invitation to self-identify (41 CFR 60-300.42) is in subpart C, which applies only to a contractor with 50 or more employees and a contract of $200,000 or more (41 CFR 60-300.1(b), 60-300.40(a)), the same contractors that must keep an affirmative action program. A contractor with fewer than 50 employees is still covered by VEVRAA’s nondiscrimination rules but not by 60-300.42. This page cannot say whether a particular employer is covered.
Did the 2025 order revoking Executive Order 11246 end the protected veteran rules?
No. VEVRAA is a statute, 38 U.S.C. 4212. Executive Order 14173 revoked Executive Order 11246 on January 21, 2025. On August 21, 2026 the Department of Labor published a final rule, 91 FR 54234, that removes the VEVRAA regulations’ cross-references to the Executive Order 11246 authority and updates the thresholds; it is effective September 21, 2026, and a correction to it was published on August 31, 2026 at 91 FR 55748. The definitions on this page were not changed by that rule.
Related pages
Sources (checked October 31, 2026): 41 CFR 60-300.2 Definitions (eCFR) · 41 CFR 60-300.1 Purpose, applicability (eCFR) · 41 CFR 60-300.40 Applicability of the affirmative action program requirement (eCFR) · 41 CFR 60-300.42 Invitation to self-identify (eCFR) · 41 CFR 60-300.45 Benchmarks for hiring (eCFR) · Appendix B to Part 60-300, Sample Invitation to Self-Identify (eCFR) · 38 U.S.C. 4212 (U.S. House Office of the Law Revision Counsel) · 5 U.S.C. 2108 (U.S. House Office of the Law Revision Counsel) · FAR 22.1303 Applicability (acquisition.gov) · Federal Register, 90 FR 41872, FAR inflation adjustment of thresholds, August 27, 2025 · Federal Register, 91 FR 54234, OFCCP final rule on the VEVRAA regulations, August 21, 2026 · Federal Register, 91 FR 55748, correction to the final rule, August 31, 2026 · U.S. Department of Labor, OFCCP: VEVRAA Hiring Benchmark