Lawyer Up
Know Your Adversary
One big mistake unemployed veterans make, I think, is not hiring expensive lawyers to promote their interests. Corporations are on top of it. Of course, it is ludicrously impractical for unemployed veterans to do that under current circumstances, which is another reason why having VEVRAA amended and enforced would be such a boon.
What Are These Lawyers Doing, Anyway
Seriously, What Are They Doing
There are many law firms that offer VEVRAA compliance assistance to corporations. Ogletree Deakins is a 950-lawyer firm with an OFCCP practice group of 21 people (including 1 veteran!) who "advise and defend federal contractors" and "assist employers with state and federal reporting." So let's start with them.
News You Can Use
The Ogletree website includes blog entries that provide information of interest to their clients. Here, they share the fact that the Department of Labor keeps lowering its annual hiring benchmark. This entry was in 2021, but there has been a 0.1% reduction in the benchmark every year since. That isn't Ogletree's fault, but the photo is.
Ch-Ch-Changes
Ch-Ch-Changes
In the 2021 blog post, Ogletree referred to their specialists as the Affirmative Action and OFCCP Compliance Practice Group. They are now the OFCCP Compliance, Government Contracting, and Reporting Practice Group. Why was Affirmative Action deleted from the title? At this point, we are not sure. However, as we have seen with the Department of Labor itself, the firm is not alone in deemphasizing this aspect of VEVRAA, i.e., the entire purpose of the law.