2023 Oregon Revised Statutes › Volume : 10 - Highways, Military › Chapter 408 - Miscellaneous Benefits for Veterans and Service Personnel › Section 408.230 - Veterans’ preference in public employment.

(1) A public employer shall grant a preference to a veteran or disabled veteran who applies for a vacant civil service position or seeks promotion to a civil service position with a higher maximum salary rate and who:
(a)(A) Successfully completes an initial application screening or an application examination for the position; or
(B) Successfully completes a civil service test the employer administers to establish eligibility for the position; and
(b) Meets the minimum qualifications and any special qualifications for the position.
(2) The employer shall grant the preference in the following manner:
(a) For an initial application screening used to develop a list of persons for interviews, the employer shall add five percentage points to a veteran’s score and 10 percentage points to a disabled veteran’s score.
(b) For an application examination, given after the initial application screening, that results in a score, the employer shall add the preference to the total combined examination score without allocating the preference to any single feature or part of the examination. The employer shall add five percentage points to a veteran’s score and 10 percentage points to a disabled veteran’s score.
(c) For an application examination that consists of an interview, an evaluation of the veteran’s performance, experience or training, a supervisor’s rating or any other method of ranking an applicant that does not result in a score, the employer shall give a preference to the veteran or disabled veteran. An employer that uses an application examination of the type described in this paragraph shall devise and apply methods by which the employer gives special consideration in the employer’s hiring decision to veterans and disabled veterans.
(3) Preferences of the type described in subsection (1) of this section are not a requirement that the public employer appoint a veteran or disabled veteran to a civil service position.
(4) A public employer shall appoint an otherwise qualified veteran or disabled veteran to a vacant civil service position if the results of a veteran’s or disabled veteran’s application examination, when combined with the veteran’s or disabled veteran’s preference, are equal to or higher than the results of an application examination for an applicant who is not a veteran or disabled veteran.
(5) If a public employer does not appoint a veteran or disabled veteran to a vacant civil service position, upon written request of the veteran or disabled veteran, the employer, in writing, shall provide the employer’s reasons for the decision not to appoint the veteran or disabled veteran to the position. The employer may base a decision not to appoint the veteran or disabled veteran solely on the veteran’s or disabled veteran’s merits or qualifications with respect to the vacant civil service position.
(6) Violation of this section is an unlawful employment practice.
(7) A veteran or disabled veteran claiming to be aggrieved by a violation of this section may file a verified written complaint with the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor and Industries in accordance with ORS 659A.820.
(8) For purposes of this section, "disabled veteran" includes a person who is receiving service-connected compensation from the United States Department of Veterans Affairs under 38 U.S.C. 1110 or 1131. [Amended by 1977 c.854 §3; 1989 c.507 §2; 1999 c.792 §1; 2007 c.525 §2; 2011 c.82 §1; 2018 c.91 §7; 2021 c.195 §1]