The Foreign Service Journal, October 2015

38 OCTOBER 2015 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL (xviii) the Agency for International Development (xix) the General Services Administration (xx) the National Science Foundation (xxi) the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (xxii) the Office of Personnel Management (xxiii) the Small Business Administration (xxiv) the Social Security Administration … Section 3. Veterans Employment Initiative. The agencies rep- resented on the Council shall participate in a Veterans Employ- ment Initiative. Under the Initiative, each participating agency shall, to the extent permitted by law: (a) develop an agency-specific Operational Plan for promot- ing employment opportunities for veterans, consistent with the governmentwide Veterans Recruitment and Employment Strategic Plan described in Section 4 of this order, merit system principles, the agency’s strategic human capital plan, and other applicable workforce planning strategies and initiatives; (b) within 120 days of the date of this order, establish a Veterans Employment Program Office, or designate an agency officer or employee with full-time responsibility for its Veterans Employment Program, to be responsible for enhancing employ- ment opportunities for veterans within the agency, consistent with law and merit system principles, including developing and implementing the agency’s Operational Plan, veterans recruitment programs, and training programs for veterans with disabilities, and for coordinating employment counseling to help match the career aspirations of veterans to the needs of the agency; (c) provide mandatory annual training to agency human resources personnel and hiring managers concerning veterans’ employment, including training on veterans’ preferences and special authorities for the hiring of veterans; (d) identify key occupations for which the agency will pro- vide job counseling and training to better enable veterans to meet agency staffing needs associated with those occupations; and (e) coordinate with the Departments of Defense and Veter- ans Affairs to promote further development and application of technology designed to assist transitioning service members and veterans with disabilities. Section 4. Additional Responsibilities of the Director of the Office of Personnel Management. The Director of OPM shall, in consultation with the Council and to the extent permitted by law: (a) develop a governmentwide Veterans Recruitment and Employment Strategic Plan, to be updated at least every three years, addressing barriers to the employment of veterans in the executive branch and focusing on: (i) identifying actions that agency leaders should take to improve employment opportunities for veterans; (ii) developing the skills of transitioning military service members and veterans; (iii) marketing the federal government as an employer of choice to transitioning service members and veterans; (iv) marketing the talent, experience, and dedication of transitioning service members and veterans to federal agencies; and (v) disseminating federal employment information to veterans and hiring officials; (b) provide governmentwide leadership in recruitment and employment of veterans in the executive branch; (c) identify key occupations, focusing on positions in high- demand occupations where talent is needed to meet govern- mentwide staffing needs, for which the federal government will provide job counseling and training under section 5(a) of this order to veterans and transitioning military service personnel; (d) develop mandatory training for both human resources personnel and hiring managers on veterans’ employment, including veterans’ preference and special hiring authorities; (e) compile and post on the OPM website governmentwide statistics on the hiring of veterans; and (f) within one year of the date of this order and with the advice of the Council, provide recommendations to the presi- dent on improving the ability of veterans’ preference laws to meet the needs of the new generation of veterans, especially those transitioning from the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the needs of federal hiring officials. Section 5. Responsibilities of the Secretaries of Defense, Labor, Veterans Affairs, and Homeland Security. The Secretar- ies of Defense, Labor, Veterans Affairs, and Homeland Security shall take the following actions, to the extent permitted by law: (a) The Secretaries of Defense, Labor, Veterans Affairs, and Homeland Security shall, in consultation with OPM, develop and implement counseling and training programs to align veterans’ and transitioning service members’ skills and career aspirations to federal employment opportunities, targeting fed- eral occupations that are projected to have heavy recruitment needs. n