S. 438

Honoring Investments in Recruiting and Employing American Military Veterans Act of 2017 or the HIRE Vets Act

This bill directs the Department of Labor to establish a HIRE Vets Medallion Program to solicit voluntary information from employers for purposes of recognizing through a HIRE Vets Medallion Award verified efforts by these employers to: (1) recruit, employ, and retain veterans; and (2) provide community and charitable services supporting the veteran community.

Labor shall annually: (1) solicit, verify, and review award applications from employers, (2) notify award recipients, and (3) issue awards at a time coinciding with Veterans Day.

An employer who receives an award is not eligible for an award the following year.

Labor shall establish two levels of awards for employers of 500 or more employees, to be designated the Gold HIRE Vets Medallion Award and the Platinum HIRE Vets Medallion Award. Criteria for such awards shall include the percentage of hired employees who are veterans, the percentage of veteran employees who are retained, the establishment of related veterans' assistance and training programs, the employment of dedicated human resources professionals for veterans, and income and tuition support for veterans.

Labor shall establish similar awards to recognize achievements in supporting veterans by: (1) employers with 50 or fewer employees, and (2) employers with more than 50 but fewer than 500 employees.

Labor shall establish the design of each award certificate.

A recipient may publicly display the award and award certificate through the end of the calendar year in which it is awarded. The bill prohibits an employer from publicly displaying an award as a part of any advertisement or business activity in order to convey the false impression that the employer received such award for any other year.

The bill establishes the HIRE Vets Medallion Award Fund. Labor may assess a reasonable application fee to carry out the award program and shall deposit such fees into the fund.

The bill excludes from the definition of "employer" the federal government or any state government.