Texas Veterans Employment Preference for State Jobs

Government Code chapter 657 is the Texas veterans employment preference. It is stronger than it first looks, because the preference is an entitlement rather than a tiebreaker policy an agency may adopt. A veteran qualifies by having served in the military not less than 90 consecutive days during a national emergency declared in accordance with federal law, or by having been discharged for an established service-connected disability, together with an honorable discharge and competence for the position. An individual who qualifies is entitled to a preference in employment with or appointment to a public entity or for a public work of Texas over other applicants for the same position who do not have a greater qualification. The preference yields to a better-qualified applicant; it does not yield to an equally qualified one. The preference extends past the veteran. A state agency provides military employment preference in this order: a veteran with a disability, then a veteran, then a qualifying spouse, then a veteran's surviving spouse who has not remarried, then an orphan of a veteran if the veteran was killed while on active duty. A veteran with a disability sits at the top of that list, which is the one place in chapter 657 where a disability changes the outcome. Where a state agency uses a competitive examination under a merit system or civil service plan, an individual entitled to the preference who is otherwise qualified and who scores at least the minimum required is entitled to have 10 points of service credit added to the test score. Section 657.004 sets the agency-level obligation. Each state agency has to establish a goal of hiring, in full-time positions at the agency, a number of veterans equal to at least 20 percent of the agency's total employees, and an agency may set a higher goal. Agencies also designate a veterans liaison to help applicants claim the preference. State agencies post openings on the CAPPS careers site and on WorkInTexas. The preference has to be claimed on the application; it is not applied from a DD-214 the agency has not been given. A Texas Veterans Commission employment representative at a Workforce Solutions office can help with the claim, and the Commission's Veterans Leadership Program exists for that.