VETS 4212 reporting started August 1: On August 1, VETS 4212 reporting for federal contractors began.  The U.S. Department of Labor's Veterans' Employment and Training Service (VETS) and Office of Federal Contractor Compliance Programs (OFCCP) have supported affirmative actions to employ and advance in employment of covered veterans since 2008. As legislatively mandated under 38 U.S. Code Section 4212, codified at 41 CFR 61-300, contractors and subcontractors who enter into, or modify a contract or subcontract with the federal government, and whose contract meets the criteria set forth in the above legislation/regulations, are required to report annually on their affirmative action efforts in employing veterans.  The current reporting threshold is for contractors and subcontractors with $150,000 or more of federal contracts or subcontracts. The official filing cycle is yearly, August 1 to September 30. Reports filed outside the official filing cycle will be treated as part of the currently active filing cycle.  If you need assistance filing the VETS 4212 report, please contact Anthony Kaylin at akaylin@aseonline.org for more information.

New veteran hiring rate for federal contractors is set at 5.1%: The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (“OFCCP”) has released its 2025 Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act (“VEVRAA”) national benchmark.  Effective July 30, 2025, the new benchmark is 5.1%, a slight decrease from 2024’s 5.2% benchmark.  Source Proskauer 8/4/25

California OSHA new posting requirement: Cal/OSHA has issued a July 2025 update to its required “Safety and Health Protection On the Job” Notice. The Notice provides employees with information about employer safety obligations and employees’ rights, such as reporting unsafe working conditions or requesting Cal/OSHA safety inspections for unsafe conditions. The Notice also includes the addresses and telephone numbers of Cal/OSHA’s division offices throughout the State. The mid-year Notice updates this listing, including the addition of listings for District offices in Riverside and Santa Barbara, and a Regional office in Fresno. All employers must post at least one Notice at each physical location where business is conducted or where services or industrial operations are performed. The Notice must be posted in a place where notices to employees are customarily posted. If you purchased the All-in-One Employment Law poster, you may print out the updated notice and post it beside your poster. Employers can find the new notice in English,  Spanish, and simplified and traditional Chinese.  Source: California Employers Association 7/29/25

What is AI being used for? The recent findings from an Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll show that 60% of Americans overall — and 74% of those under 30 — use AI to find information at least some of the time. The poll highlights the ubiquity of AI in some areas as well as its limits in others. Only about 4 in 10 Americans say they have used AI for work tasks or coming up with ideas, a sign that the tech industry's promises of highly productive AI assistants still haven't touched most livelihoods after years of promotion and investment. There's a particularly large age divide on brainstorming: About 6 in 10 adults under age 30 have used AI for coming up with ideas, compared with only 2 in 10 of those age 60 or older. Young adults are also more likely to use AI to come up with ideas at least “daily.” Roughly 4 in 10 Americans say they use AI for work tasks at least sometimes, while about one-third say they use it for helping to write emails, create or edit images, or for entertainment, according to the poll. About one-quarter say they use it to shop. Just under 2 in 10 of all adults and about a quarter of those under 30 say they’ve used AI for companionship. Source: AP 7/29/25

Student loan collections may hit payroll: The U.S. Department of Education announced in April that it would resume collections of defaulted loans — those on which borrowers have not made payments for a period of time determined by their loan’s type — beginning May 5. This marks a shift after years of lighter enforcement in the wake of COVID-19, said Dave Amendola, defined contribution strategy intellectual capital and innovation leader at WTW.  The Education Department’s recent announcement means that those who are in default are on notice of their need to resume monthly payments. The agency said that, beginning this summer, it would send notices via its Office of Federal Student Aid ordering administrative wage garnishments in certain cases. These changes could directly affect some workers over the next several months, according to Amendola. Wage garnishment and other debt collections are now on the table, though, and if employees who are in default have their wages garnished, employers don’t have much leeway to address it, Amendola said.  Source: HR Dive 6/26/25

Employers (especially federal contractors) need to worry about DEI: On June 11, 2025, Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate issued a memorandum entitled Civil Division Enforcement Priorities (the “Memorandum”), outlining five areas of focus for Department of Justice (“DOJ”) Civil Division investigations and enforcement actions. Among these priorities is “combatting unlawful discriminatory practices in the private sector.” Referencing President Donald Trump’s Executive Order 14173 (Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity), which calls for the elimination of “illegal private-sector DEI preferences, mandates, policies, programs, and activities,” the Memorandum states that “the Civil Division will use all available resources to pursue affirmative litigation combatting unlawful discriminatory practices in the private sector.” This will include “aggressively investigat[ing] and, as appropriate, pursu[ing] False Claims Act violations against recipients of federal funds that knowingly violate civil rights laws.”  The Civil Division “will work with the Civil Rights Division, relators, other whistleblowers, and federal agencies” as part of this initiative. Although the precise contours of what constitutes “illegal” DEI policies remains uncertain, the memorandum is yet another warning to federal contractors and grantees that their diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives are a focal point of federal enforcement efforts.  Source: Proskauer 7/29/25