Yes, the government is introducing yet another new form, the VETS-100A.  Large federal contractors will begin using the form September 30, 2009.  However, they should start collecting data for the new VETS-100A Report Form now or they won’t have the necessary 12 months of data to report.

Currently federal contractors with government contracts of $100,000 or more that were entered into or modified on or after December 1, 2003, are required to file the VETS-100 Report by September 30 of each year with the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), as are federal contractors with unmodified government contracts of $25,000 or more that were entered into prior to December 1, 2003.

But in 2009, federal contractors will have to file the VETS-100A Report for government contracts of $100,000 or more that were entered into or modified on or after December 1, 2003, as well as the VETS-100 Report for any unmodified government contracts of $25,000 or more that were entered into prior to December 1, 2003.

In a May 19, 2008 final rule on reporting requirements, the DOL Veterans Employment and Training Service announced that the new VETS-100A Report would not have to be filed until September 30, 2009, but added that contractors are to collect and maintain the data for the new report in 2008. The DOL noted that the VETS-100A Report calls for contractors to provide data on veterans’ employment for 12 months ending on a date in the report year between July 1 and August 31 that represents the end of a payroll period, as is the case for the VETS-100 Report.

The job categories on VETS-100 and VETS-100A differ slightly because VETS-100A incorporates changes that the Jobs for Veterans Act (JVA) of 2002 made to the Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA), the law requiring certain federal contractors to engage in affirmative action for certain veterans.

You will want to determine the size of your federal contract in order to determine which form(s) to complete in 2009.