Pennsylvania Veterans Preference in Public Employment

The Pennsylvania Veterans' Preference Act, 51 Pa.C.S. Chapter 71 (sections 7101.1 to 7111), covers public jobs with the Commonwealth, its political subdivisions and municipal agencies, and section 7109 makes it the exclusive law on veterans' preference in public hiring and retention. Act 102 of 2020 rewrote the chapter, and Act 44 of 2022 rewrote the definition of a veteran. Who counts. Section 7101.2 covers a member of the armed forces, a reserve component or the National Guard who has completed the initial contractual service obligation and whose last discharge was under conditions other than dishonorable; one who served during a period of war or armed conflict, completed a tour of active duty other than for training and still serves; a reservist or Guard member who completed the initial obligation and still serves; one discharged early for disability; and an active-duty member within 90 days of an approved discharge after a tour of three years or more. "Under conditions other than dishonorable" means an honorable or general discharge, or an other-than-dishonorable discharge VA has found eligible for benefits. No disability rating is involved, and the disability discharge route is about the reason on the DD-214, not a VA rating. Examinations. Section 7103 adds 10 points to the final score of a veteran who passes a civil service examination for a Commonwealth, political subdivision or municipal position, and the score with the points sets the veteran's place on the list. Jobs filled without an examination. Section 7104(a): "Whenever a veteran possesses the requisite qualifications for appointment to a public position that is not subject to civil service appointment examination and the veteran is otherwise eligible for appointment, the appointing authority in making the appointment shall give preference to the veteran." This reaches most county, borough and township jobs, which are not civil service positions, and the Commonwealth's non-civil service jobs, internships and fellowships. The Office of Administration applies it by interviewing every veteran who meets the posted requirements and making a conditional offer to the veteran if the hiring manager finds the veteran meets them all. "Requisite qualifications" (7101.2) are the experience, education, training and other qualities the employer sets for the job, so the employer still decides what the job needs; and section 7105 makes it count training and education received in the military, and bars using age or a physical impairment that does not incapacitate against a qualified veteran. From a civil service list. Section 7104(b) makes the appointing authority prefer a veteran whose name is on the certified list, whatever the veteran's standing on it, where the appointment is made under the Commonwealth's selection rules (the Office of Administration calls this the mandatory appointment preference for a veteran within the Rule of Three or the alternative rule); 7104(c) lets an authority appoint a veteran who passed the examination but is not on the certified list. Layoffs. Section 7107: where a reduction in force goes by seniority, a veteran's years of service in the armed forces during a period of war or armed conflict, other than active duty training, are added to the veteran's years in the civil service or on public works. Peacetime service does not count toward it. Spouses. Section 7108 gives the same preference to a surviving spouse (unmarried, of a deceased veteran or of a service member who died on active duty) and to the spouse of a veteran VA rates permanently and totally disabled; the Office of Administration asks the disabled veteran to sign a statement agreeing to transfer the credit. What it does not do. The Office of Administration states that "veterans' preference does NOT apply to promotions or internal civil service postings." No veteran may start the job until the discharge papers (a DD-214, DD-215 or NGB-22) or a statement of service are given to the employer, so send them with the application. Contractors on Commonwealth public works must give a hiring preference similar to the Commonwealth's (7106). Asking. Commonwealth jobs: Office of Administration, Veterans' Preference, 613 North Street, Harrisburg (717-783-6655). A county, city, borough or township job: the employer's human resources office, which applies the same chapter; the catalog's county entries record how several counties describe it. Already in public employment and still serving? Paid military leave is a separate law: 51 Pa.C.S. 4102 gives every Commonwealth and local government employee in the Guard or a reserve component up to 15 days a year of paid leave for training or other military duty, and every day of State active duty for an emergency, without using vacation; Commonwealth employees get up to 15 more days for a qualifying involuntary or combat-zone deployment of 30 days or more.