Public Employment Preference — 5 Points, or 10 With a Disability
A public employer using a scored selection procedure must add 5 percentage points for a veteran and 10 for a disabled veteran or an eligible relative. Where the procedure is not scored, the preferred applicant must be chosen over a non-preferred applicant holding substantially equal qualifications.
Verified August 22, 2026
What this benefit is
A public employer using a scored selection procedure must add 5 percentage points for a veteran and 10 for a disabled veteran or an eligible relative. Where the procedure is not scored, the preferred applicant must be chosen over a non-preferred applicant holding substantially equal qualifications.
What it's worth: 5 percentage points added to a scored result, or 10 for a disabled veteran or eligible relative
- Points are added to a score, so what they are worth depends entirely on how tight the field is. On a crowded register five points can move an applicant several places; on a thin one it changes nothing.
- No dollar value is claimed. The benefit is a hiring advantage, not a payment.
Who is entitled to it
- The preference runs to the veteran.
- An eligible relative or eligible spouse is named in the statute alongside the veteran.
- Your discharge is honorable or general under honorable conditions.
- You are in this state.
Not sure whether that describes you?
Answer a few questions about this benefit specifically — we only ask what this one actually depends on, and we stop as soon as we know.
How to claim it
Deadline: Before the closing date for applications- 1Claim it IN WRITING and claim it before the closing date. The statute requires the claim to be made in writing before the time for filing applications has passed, so a preference mentioned at interview is a preference lost.
- 2Look for the notice. A public employer must give notice of the preference either by posting it or on the application form itself — if the vacancy carries no such notice, that is worth raising.
- 3Two citizenship and qualification gates apply to the points: the applicant must be a United States citizen and must meet the minimum qualifications for the position. Points do not rescue an application that falls short of the advertised requirements.
- 4If the selection is not scored, the preference still bites. The employer must prefer a disabled veteran, a person with a disability, a veteran, an eligible relative or an eligible spouse over a non-preferred applicant holding substantially equal qualifications.
- 5You are entitled to be told the outcome. The employer must give written notice of its hiring decision to an applicant who claimed the preference.
- 6A separate provision protects retention during a reduction in force, so the preference is not only about getting hired.
- Form
- A written claim of preference, made with the application
- File with
- The public employer advertising the position
- Documents you will need
- dd214 · va benefit summary letter
- At each renewal
- Claimed again whenever the underlying licence or registration renews.
Sources
- authority · statuteMont. Code Ann. §39-29-102 — Point preference or alternative preference in initial hiring
- operating · statuteMont. Code Ann. §39-29-103 — Notice and claim of preference
This finder provides an informational match, not a government eligibility determination. The responsible agency decides your application.