OPM helping to extend hiring preference to more veterans Published April 4, 2005 By Donna Miles American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON (AFPN) -- U.S. Office of Personnel Management officials are working to make veterans’ preference for federal jobs available to more veterans. One initiative is a new revised application that allows federal agencies to accept veterans’ disability letters.The revised application is being posted on OPM’s Web site so agencies immediately can accept Veterans Affairs letters of disability, officials said. Agencies, OPM examining offices and agency appointing officials use the online application to evaluate claims for veterans’ preference on applications for government jobs.The new revisions to the veterans’ preference form bring it in line with VA policy, which generally considers disability letters issued since 1991 as proof of a permanent disability.To further encourage veterans into the federal system, OPM officials also are continuing the veterans’ invitational program, visiting military bases and medical centers to explain veterans’ preference and outline the procedures for applying for federal jobs. Upcoming visits are planned for Cherry Point, N.C.; Camp Lejeune, N.C.; Bolling Air Force Base, D.C.; Fort Sam Houston and Fort Bliss, Texas; and Fort Lee, Va., officials said.The initiatives reflect OPM’s “strong emphasis on the rights of veterans, including employment opportunities,” said Dan G. Blair, OPM acting director.“We must ensure those who are eligible for veterans’ preference receive the benefits to which they are entitled,” he said.Veterans of the armed forces have received some degree of hiring preference for federal jobs since the Civil War.Today’s law, reflected in Veterans’ Preference Code of 1944, as amended, and in Title 5 of the U.S. Code, ensures that veterans who are disabled or served on active duty in the military during certain specified time frames or campaigns receive preference in hiring from competitive lists of eligible applicants. It also gives these veterans preference in keeping their jobs during reductions-in-force processes, officials said.The purpose of veterans’ preference, officials said, is to recognize the economic loss suffered during military service, restore veterans to a favorable competitive position for government jobs, and acknowledge the debt owed to disabled veterans.More details about veterans’ preference are posted online at www.opm.gov/veterans/html.