Utah Veterans Preference in Private Employment

Most states that address private-sector veteran preference simply say an employer may do it and remove the civil rights risk. Utah does that and then imposes form requirements on the policy, which is what makes this chapter useful to a job seeker. The permission. Section 34-50-103, subsection 1: "A private sector employer may create a veterans employment preference policy." Nothing compels an employer to have one. The conditions, if the employer does have one. Subsection 2: a veterans employment preference policy "shall be: (a) in writing; and (b) applied uniformly to employment decisions regarding hiring, promotion, or retention including during a reduction in force." Three things are packed into that. The policy must exist as a document. It must be applied uniformly, which means an employer who claims a veteran preference cannot apply it to one candidate and not another. And it reaches beyond hiring to promotion and to retention "including during a reduction in force", so a posted policy is relevant when layoffs are announced, not only when you are applying. It must be posted where you can find it. Subsection 4: the policy "shall be publicly posted by the employer at the place of employment or on the Internet if the employer has a website or uses the Internet to advertise employment opportunities." An employer that advertises jobs online and operates a preference must publish the policy online. That is a reasonable thing to look for before you apply and a reasonable thing to ask about if you cannot find it. What the employer may demand of you. Subsection 3: the employer "may require a preference eligible individual to submit a discharge document form or proof of current service in the armed forces". If you are applying as the spouse of a veteran or service member, "the employer may require that the spouse submit the veteran's discharge document or proof of current service." Which documents count is spelled out, which is helpful because it is broader than a DD-214. Section 34-50-102, subsection 2 defines "discharge document" as a document received on separation "including: (a) a DD 214, United States Department of Defense Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty; (b) a DD 256, United States Department of Defense Honorable Discharge Certificate; (c) a DD 257, United States General Discharge Certificate; or (d) an NGB 22, Utah National Guard Certificate of Release or Discharge." The DD 257 is the general discharge certificate and it is named, which is consistent with the Utah definition of veteran reaching a general discharge. The NGB 22 is named, which is how a Guard member proves service. Who is preference eligible here. Section 34-50-102, subsection 3 borrows the public-sector definition: "'Preference eligible' means the same as that term is defined in Section 71A-2-101." So the wide class applies: veterans, currently serving service members, an individual with a disability regardless of percentage, spouses and surviving spouses, Purple Heart recipients, and retired members of the armed forces. A private employer's veteran preference policy therefore lawfully extends to military spouses. The safe harbour. Section 34-50-104: granting a veterans preference under the chapter "is not a violation of: (1) Title 34A, Chapter 5, Utah Antidiscrimination Act; or (2) any other state or local equal employment opportunity law." Note the limit: state and local law. The chapter does not and could not authorise anything federal law forbids, so Title VII, the ADEA and the ADA are untouched. The state will help with verification. Section 34-50-105: the Department of Veterans and Military Affairs and the Department of Workforce Services "may assist, as permitted under state and federal laws governing privacy, a private employer in verifying if an applicant is: (1) a veteran or currently serving member of the armed forces; or (2) a spouse of a veteran or currently serving member of the armed forces." An employer worried about checking your documents has a state office to call. What this chapter does not give you. There is no duty on any employer, so there is no remedy for not having a policy. The chapter contains no penalty and no cause of action. What it gives a veteran is a written, uniformly applied, publicly posted policy wherever an employer has chosen to operate one, and a basis for asking whether that policy was followed. Separately, Utah does impose real duties on private employers toward reserve component members. Section 71A-8-105 requires a leave of absence of up to five years for a reserve member entering active duty, active duty for training, inactive duty training or state active duty, and makes it a class B misdemeanor for any employer to willfully deprive such an employee of the chapter's benefits or to discriminate "in hiring for any employment position, public or private, based on membership in any reserve component of the armed forces". That is a mandate rather than a permission; see the Utah reserve leave entry.