Veterans Employment Opportunity Action
(VEOA)

The Veterans Employment Opportunities Act (VEOA) of 1998 as amended by Section 511 of the Veterans Millennium Health Care Act (Pub. Law 106-117) of November 30, 1999, provides that an agency must allow a preference eligible or an eligible veteran to apply for positions announced under merit promotion procedures when the agency is recruiting from outside its own workforce.

• The law makes it clear that an eligible veteran who wishes to take advantage of the increased access to jobs provided by the VEOA must compete under an agency's Merit Promotion procedures. Furthermore, the law provides that a veteran who is selected from the best qualified group will be given a career conditional appointment in the competitive service.
• To be eligible for a VEOA appointment, an applicant must:
  • Be a preference eligible OR veteran separated from the armed forces after 3 or more years of continuous active service performed under honorable conditions. A veteran who was released shortly before completing a 3-year tour is considered to be eligible. ("Active service" defined in title 37, United States Code, means active duty in the uniformed services and includes full-time training duty, annual training duty, full-time National Guard duty, and attendance, while in the active service, at a school designated as a service school by law or by the Secretary of the military department concerned).