HIRE Vets Medallion Program: Employer Recognition

The HIRE Vets Medallion Program is the only federal award that recognizes employers for hiring and retaining military veterans. Administered by the U.S. Department of Labor, the program operates under the Honoring Investments in Recruiting and Employing American Military Veterans Act of 2017 (Pub. L. 115-31, Division O), commonly known as the HIRE Vets Act. This page explains how the award is structured, what distinguishes its two tiers, which employer scenarios qualify, and where the program's eligibility boundaries lie — particularly for employers supporting veterans navigating VA benefits and programs.

Definition and Scope

The HIRE Vets Medallion Program is a voluntary recognition initiative, not a procurement preference or contract vehicle. Winning the award does not confer any set-aside status, federal contract eligibility, or tax benefit. Its purpose is reputational: employers who demonstrate verified commitments to veteran hiring and retention receive a federally issued medallion they may use in recruitment materials, on websites, and in federal contractor documentation.

The program is administered by the Department of Labor's Veterans' Employment and Training Service (VETS). Participation is open to private-sector employers of all sizes operating in the United States. Federal agencies and their instrumentalities are excluded from applying.

The statutory and regulatory framework is codified at 38 U.S.C. §§ 4212a–4212b, with implementing regulations at 20 C.F.R. Part 1011. Applications are accepted on an annual cycle, with the application window typically opening in January and closing in April of each calendar year, per the DOL VETS program schedule.

How It Works

Employers apply directly through the DOL VETS online application portal. The application requires self-reported data, which DOL VETS does not independently audit in real time but may verify through follow-up review. Misrepresentation in an application constitutes grounds for revocation and potential legal liability under federal false-statement statutes.

The program awards two distinct tiers of the medallion:

Gold Medallion — the higher designation, requiring stricter thresholds across all criteria.

Platinum Medallion — the highest designation, requiring the most rigorous commitments including dedicated veteran support programs and higher retention rates.

(Note: DOL VETS uses "Gold" and "Platinum" as its two award levels; applicants select the tier for which they believe they qualify.)

The core criteria assessed in the application fall into five categories:

1. Veteran hiring percentage — the proportion of new hires who are veterans during the prior calendar year, measured against total hires.
2. Veteran retention rate — the percentage of veteran employees retained for at least 12 months.
3. Dedicated HR professional or veteran employee resource group — whether the employer designates personnel specifically to support veteran recruitment and integration.
4. Pay and tuition assistance programs — whether the employer provides assistance with continuing education aligned with military skill translation.
5. Policies for Guard and Reserve members — whether the employer has formal policies supporting employees who serve in the National Guard or Reserve components, including protections beyond those mandated by the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA, 38 U.S.C. §§ 4301–4335).

The specific numeric thresholds differ by employer size class. DOL VETS defines three size classes: small employers (fewer than 51 employees), medium employers (51–499 employees), and large employers (500 or more employees). A large employer applying for the Platinum Medallion faces a veteran hiring benchmark of at least 7% of new hires, while a small employer faces a 10% benchmark, reflecting the proportionally higher feasibility of meeting that threshold in a smaller workforce (20 C.F.R. § 1011.110).

Common Scenarios

Staffing and defense contractors frequently pursue the HIRE Vets Medallion because the award signals alignment with federal agency procurement values, even though the medallion itself conveys no procurement preference. A defense contractor employing 600 workers — with 45 veterans hired in a given year — can calculate its veteran hiring percentage at 7.5%, which meets the large-employer Platinum threshold if other criteria are satisfied.

Healthcare systems and hospital networks represent another common applicant category. Many employ veterans in clinical support, logistics, and administration roles. A regional hospital system with 1,200 employees that operates a formal military transition hiring program and a veteran employee resource group may meet all non-numeric criteria without adjusting hiring practices.

Small businesses with veteran ownership sometimes apply to signal alignment with the veteran community, including those registered under the Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business program. The small-employer criteria accommodate lower absolute headcounts while requiring proportionally higher veteran hiring rates.

Employers supporting Guard and Reserve members gain credit for documented policies that go beyond USERRA's baseline protections — for example, offering differential pay during military leave that supplements the difference between military and civilian wages.

Decision Boundaries

Several conditions determine whether an employer qualifies for a specific tier or is ineligible entirely:

• Federal agencies are categorically excluded. The statute limits eligibility to private-sector employers. State and local government employers are eligible.
• The application window is fixed. Employers that miss the annual April closing date must wait until the following cycle. Awards issued in a given year cover the prior calendar year's employment data.
• Medallion validity is one year. An employer must reapply annually to maintain recognition; the award does not carry forward automatically.
• Platinum versus Gold is not a choice made purely by the applicant — the application data must satisfy the higher-tier thresholds for Platinum. Employers whose data meet Gold but not Platinum thresholds receive Gold regardless of which tier they indicated preference for.
• Retention calculation excludes involuntary separations caused by misconduct or workforce reduction, per DOL VETS guidance, meaning employers facing layoffs are not penalized if veterans are retained at the same rate as other employees.

Employers in industries with high annual turnover — such as retail or hospitality — may find the 12-month veteran retention threshold the most structurally challenging criterion, even when veteran hiring percentages are strong. Conversely, employers in technical fields with low overall turnover may easily satisfy retention thresholds while struggling to reach veteran hiring percentage benchmarks if their total new-hire volume is low.

The HIRE Vets Medallion intersects with broader veteran employment resources at the point where individual veterans use employer medallion status as a screening signal when evaluating job opportunities — making the program simultaneously a government recognition instrument and a labor-market information tool.