Honoring the Hiring of Heroes Act

To authorize the Secretary of Labor to award special recognition to employers for veteran-friendly employment practices. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Honoring the Hiring of Heroes Act 2. Veteran-Friendly Business Awards (a) Authorization and Criteria for award Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Labor (in this Act referred as the Secretary) and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall jointly establish a program to award special recognition to employers for veteran-friendly employment practices and, in coordination with the Secretaries of Defense and Commerce, shall establish criteria for determining recipients of such awards. (b) Recognition An award of recognition granted under the program established by the Secretary under this Act shall be known as an Employment Salute Award. (c) Eligibility (1) Employer defined As used in this Act, the term employer (2) Categories The Secretary shall establish different categories of employers eligible for the awards based on the size of the employers. Recognition shall be awarded separately for employers having from 1 to 50 employees, from 51 to 500 employees, and more than 500 employees. (d) Application An employer seeking an award of recognition under this Act shall provide the Secretary with an application at such time and containing such information as the Secretary shall require after establishing the criteria described in subsection (a). (e) Application fee and funding (1) Fee authorized The Secretary may assess a reasonable application fee on employers seeking such an award. (2) Establishment of fund There is established in the Treasury of the United States a separate account for the deposit of fees collected under this subsection to be known as the Employment Salute Award Fund. (3) Deposit The Secretary shall deposit any fees collected pursuant to paragraph (1) into the Fund established by paragraph (2). (4) Use Amounts in the Employment Salute Award Fund shall be available to the Secretary, as provided in paragraph (5), for making expenditures to carry out the program established pursuant to subsection (a). (5) Authorization of appropriations There is authorized to be appropriated from the Employment Salute Award Fund to the Secretary for each fiscal year in which fees are collected under this subsection an amount equal to the total amount collected during the previous fiscal year from fees assessed pursuant to this subsection. Such amounts are authorized to remain available until expended. (6) Crediting and Availability of Fees Fees authorized under paragraph (1) shall be collected and available for obligation only to the extent and in the amount provided in advance in appropriations Acts. (f) Publicization The Secretary shall publicize the recipients of the award by listing such recipients in a separate section on the Department of Labor’s website and through such other methods as the Secretary may determine. (g) No monetary award An award granted under a program established pursuant to subsection (a) shall be for recognition only and not be monetary in nature.

Summary: Honoring the Hiring of Heroes Act This bill directs the Department of Labor and the Department of Veterans Affairs to establish jointly a program to award special recognition to employers for veteran-friendly employment practices (Employment Salute Awards) and, in coordination with the Departments of Defense and Commerce, establish criteria for determining award recipients. The Employment Salute Award Fund is established in the Treasury for the deposit of employer award application fees collected under this Act.