114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 3286 

AN ACT 

To encourage effective, voluntary private sector investments 

to recruit, employ, and retain men and women who have 

served in the United States military with annual presidential awards to private sector employers recognizing 

such efforts, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Honoring Investments 

3 in Recruiting and Employing American Military Veterans 

4 Act of 2016’’ or the ‘‘HIRE Vets Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. HIRE VETS MEDALLION PROGRAM. 

6 (a) PROGRAM ESTABLISHED.—Not later than 1 year 

7 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 

8 Labor shall establish, by rule, a HIRE Vets Medallion 

9 Program to solicit voluntary information from employers 

10 for purposes of recognizing, by means of an award to be 

11 designated a ‘‘HIRE Vets Medallion’’, verified efforts by 

12 such employers— 

13 (1) to recruit, employ, and retain veterans; and 

14 (2) to provide community and charitable serv15 ices supporting the veteran community. 

16 (b) APPLICATION PROCESS.—Beginning in the cal17 endar year following the calendar year in which the Sec18 retary establishes the program— 

19 (1) the Secretary shall annually— 

20 (A) solicit and accept voluntary applica21 tions from employers in order to consider 

22 whether those employers should receive a HIRE 

23 Vets Medallion; 

24 (B) review applications received in each 

25 calendar year; and 
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1 (C) provide to the President a list of re2 cipients; and 

3 (2) the President shall annually— 

4 (A) notify such recipients of their awards; 

5 and 

6 (B) at a time to coincide with the annual 

7 commemoration of Veterans Day— 

8 (i) announce the names of such recipi9 ents; 

10 (ii) recognize such recipients through 

11 publication in the Federal Register; and 

12 (iii) issue to each such recipient— 

13 (I) a HIRE Vets Medallion of the 

14 level determined under section 3; and 

15 (II) a certificate stating that 

16 such employer is entitled to display 

17 such HIRE Vets Medallion during the 

18 following calendar year, to be des19 ignated a ‘‘HIRE Vets Medallion Cer20 tificate’’. 

21 (c) TIMING.— 

22 (1) SOLICITATION PERIOD.—The Secretary 

23 shall solicit applications not later than January 31st 

24 of each calendar year for the medallions to be 

25 awarded in November of that calendar year. 
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1 (2) END OF ACCEPTANCE PERIOD.—The Sec2 retary shall stop accepting applications not earlier 

3 than April 30th of each calendar year for the medal4 lions to be awarded in November of that calendar 

5 year. 

6 (3) REVIEW PERIOD.—The Secretary shall fin7 ish reviewing applications not later than August 31st 

8 of each calendar year for the medallions to be 

9 awarded in November of that calendar year. 

10 (4) RECOMMENDATIONS TO PRESIDENT.—The 

11 Secretary shall provide to the President a list of em12 ployers to receive HIRE Vets Medallions not later 

13 than September 30th of each calendar year for the 

14 medallions to be awarded in November of that cal15 endar year. 

16 (5) NOTICE TO RECIPIENTS.—The President 

17 shall notify employers who will receive HIRE Vets 

18 Medallions not later than October 11th of each cal19 endar year for the medallions to be awarded in No20 vember of that calendar year. 

21 SEC. 3. SELECTION OF RECIPIENTS. 

22 (a) APPLICATION REVIEW PROCESS.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall review 

24 all applications received in a calendar year to deter-
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1 mine whether an employer should receive a HIRE 

2 Vets Medallion, and, if so, of what level. 

3 (2) APPLICATION CONTENTS.—The Secretary 

4 shall require that all applications provide informa5 tion on the programs and other efforts of applicant 

6 employers during the calendar year prior to that in 

7 which the medallion is to be awarded, including the 

8 categories and activities governing the level of award 

9 for which the applicant is eligible under subsection 

10 (b). 

11 (3) VERIFICATION.—In reviewing applications, 

12 the Secretary shall verify all information provided in 

13 the applications, to the extent that such information 

14 is relevant in determining whether or not an appli15 cant should receive a HIRE Vets Medallion or in de16 termining the appropriate level of HIRE Vets Me17 dallion for that employer to receive. 

18 (b) AWARDS.— 

19 (1) LARGE EMPLOYERS.— 

20 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall es21 tablish two levels of HIRE Vets Medallions to 

22 be awarded to employers employing 500 or 

23 more employees, to be designated the ‘‘Gold 

24 HIRE Vets Medallion’’ and the ‘‘Platinum 

25 HIRE Vets Medallion’’. 
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1 (B) GOLD HIRE VETS MEDALLION.—No 

2 employer shall be eligible to receive a Gold 

3 HIRE Vets Medallion in a given calendar year 

4 unless— 

5 (i) veterans constitute not less than 7 

6 percent of all employees hired by such em7 ployer during the prior calendar year; 

8 (ii) such employer has established an 

9 employee veteran organization or resource 

10 group to assist new veteran employees with 

11 integration, including coaching and men12 toring; and 

13 (iii) such employer has established 

14 programs to enhance the leadership skills 

15 of veteran employees during their employ16 ment. 

17 (C) PLATINUM HIRE VETS MEDALLION.— 

18 No employer shall be eligible to receive a Plat19 inum HIRE Vets Medallion in a given calendar 

20 year unless— 

21 (i) veterans constitute not less than 

22 10 percent of all employees hired by such 

23 employer during the prior calendar year; 

24 (ii) such employer retains through the 

25 end of the prior calendar year not less 
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1 than 85 percent of veteran employees hired 

2 during the calendar year before the prior 

3 calendar year; 

4 (iii) such employer employs dedicated 

5 human resources professionals to support 

6 hiring and retention of veteran employees, 

7 including efforts focused on veteran hiring 

8 and training; 

9 (iv) such employer provides each of its 

10 employees serving on active duty in the 

11 United States National Guard or Reserve 

12 with compensation sufficient, in combina13 tion with the employee’s active duty pay, to 

14 achieve a combined level of income com15 mensurate with the employee’s salary prior 

16 to undertaking active duty; and 

17 (v) such employer has established a 

18 tuition assistance program to support vet19 eran employees’ attendance in postsec20 ondary education during the term of their 

21 employment. 

22 (D) EXEMPTION FOR SMALLER EMPLOY23 ERS.—An employer shall be deemed to meet the 

24 requirements of subparagraph (C)(iv) if such 

25 employer— 
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1 (i) employs 5,000 or fewer employees; 

2 and 

3 (ii) employs at least one human re4 sources professional whose regular work 

5 duties include those described under sub6 paragraph (C)(iii). 

7 (E) ADDITIONAL CRITERIA.—The Sec8 retary may provide, by rule, additional criteria 

9 with which to determine qualifications for re10 ceipt of each level of HIRE Vets Medallion. 

11 (2) SMALL- AND MEDIUM-SIZED EMPLOYERS.— 

12 The Secretary shall establish similar awards in order 

13 to recognize achievements in supporting veterans 

14 by— 

15 (A) employers with 50 or fewer employees; 

16 and 

17 (B) employers with more than 50 but 

18 fewer than 500 employees. 

19 (c) DESIGN BY SECRETARY.—The Secretary shall es20 tablish the shape, form, and metallic content of each 

21 HIRE Vets Medallion. 

22 SEC. 4. DISPLAY OF AWARD. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—The recipient of a HIRE Vets Me24 dallion may— 
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1 (1) publicly display such medallion through the 

2 end of the calendar year following receipt of such 

3 medallion; and 

4 (2) publicly display the HIRE Vets Medallion 

5 Certificate issued in conjunction with such medal6 lion. 

7 (b) UNLAWFUL DISPLAY PROHIBITED.—It is unlaw8 ful for any employer to publicly display a HIRE Vets Me9 dallion, in connection with, or as a part of, any advertise10 ment, solicitation, business activity, or product— 

11 (1) for the purpose of conveying, or in a man12 ner reasonably calculated to convey, a false impres13 sion that the employer received the medallion 

14 through the HIRE Vets Medallion Program, if such 

15 employer did not receive such medallion through the 

16 HIRE Vets Medallion Program; or 

17 (2) for the purpose of conveying, or in a man18 ner reasonably calculated to convey, a false impres19 sion that the employer received the medallion 

20 through the HIRE Vets Medallion Program during 

21 the preceding calendar year if it is after the end of 

22 the calendar year following the calendar year in 

23 which such medallion was issued to such employer 

24 through the HIRE Vets Medallion Program. 
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1 SEC. 5. APPLICATION FEE AND FUNDING. 

2 (a) FUND ESTABLISHED.—There is established in 

3 the Treasury of the United States a fund to be designated 

4 the ‘‘HIRE Vets Medallion Award Fund’’. 

5 (b) FEE AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary may assess a 

6 reasonable fee on employers that apply for receipt of a 

7 HIRE Vets Medallion and the Secretary shall deposit such 

8 fees into the HIRE Vets Medallion Award Fund. The Sec9 retary shall establish the amount of the fee such that the 

10 amounts collected as fees and deposited into the Fund are 

11 sufficient to cover the costs associated with carrying out 

12 this Act. 

13 (c) USE OF FUNDS.—Amounts in the HIRE Vets 

14 Medallion Award Fund shall be available, subject to ap15 propriation, to the Secretary to carry out the HIRE Vets 

16 Medallion Program. 

17 SEC. 6. REPORT TO CONGRESS. 

18 (a) REPORTS.—Beginning not later than 2 years 

19 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall 

20 submit to Congress annual reports on— 

21 (1) the fees collected from applicants for HIRE 

22 Vets Medallions in the prior year and any changes 

23 in fees to be proposed in the present year; 

24 (2) the cost of administering the HIRE Vets 

25 Medallion Program in the prior year; 
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1 (3) the number of applications for HIRE Vets 

2 Medallions received in the prior year; and 

3 (4) the HIRE Vets Medallions awarded in the 

4 prior year, including the name of each employer to 

5 whom a HIRE Vets Medallion was awarded and the 

6 level of medallion awarded to each such employer. 

7 (b) COMMITTEES.—The Secretary shall provide the 

8 reports required under subsection (a) to the Chairman and 

9 Ranking Member of— 

10 (1) the Committees on Education and the 

11 Workforce and Veterans’ Affairs of the House of 

12 Representatives; and 

13 (2) the Committees on Health, Education, 

14 Labor, and Pensions and Veterans’ Affairs of the 

15 Senate. 

16 SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS. 

17 In this Act: 

18 (a) EMPLOYER.—The term ‘‘employer’’ has the 

19 meaning given such term under section 4303 of title 38, 

20 United States Code, except that such term does not in21 clude— 

22 (1) the Federal Government; 

23 (2) any State, as defined in such section; or 

24 (3) any foreign state. 
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1 (b) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the 

2 Secretary of Labor. 

3 (c) VETERAN.—The term ‘‘veteran’’ has the meaning 

4 given such term under section 101 of title 38, United 

5 States Code. 

Passed the House of Representatives November 29, 

2016. 

Attest: 

Clerk. 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 3286 

AN ACT 

To encourage effective, voluntary private sector inand for other purposes. vate sector employers recognizing such efforts, military with annual presidential awards to pri- women who have served in the United States vestments to recruit, employ, and retain men and