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A Private Employer May Lawfully Prefer a Veteran — and Many Do Not Know It

A private sector employer may adopt an employment policy that gives preference in hiring to a veteran. "Private sector employer" means any employer that is not a public employer, and the section says expressly that this includes for-profit and not-for-profit employers. It is a permission, not a mandate — but it is the answer to an employer who says it would be discrimination.

Verified August 23, 2026

What this benefit is

A private sector employer may adopt an employment policy that gives preference in hiring to a veteran. "Private sector employer" means any employer that is not a public employer, and the section says expressly that this includes for-profit and not-for-profit employers. It is a permission, not a mandate — but it is the answer to an employer who says it would be discrimination.

What it's worth: A lawful hiring preference a private employer may adopt — if it adopts one

  • The section is permissive. No private employer is required to prefer a veteran, and a veteran refused a job has no claim under it.
  • What it is actually worth is removing an employer’s objection. An employer that wants to hire veterans and has been told it cannot has a one-sentence statute to point at.

Who is entitled to it

  • The preference is given to the person who served.
  • 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

  1. 1Use it in the conversation, not on a form. An employer worried that a stated preference for veterans would expose it can be shown that the legislature authorised exactly that.
  2. 2The definition is wide and worth quoting: private sector employer means any employer that is not a public employer, and includes for-profit AND not-for-profit employers. Charities and nonprofits are inside it.
  3. 3Ask whether the employer has ADOPTED a policy. The section speaks of adopting an employment policy that gives preference, so the question at an interview is whether one exists, not whether the law allows one.
  4. 4Have the DD214 available at application stage, because a policy the employer has adopted will need evidence of service before it can be applied.
  5. 5Do not confuse this with the public employment preference, which is a different section, applies to public employers, and gives a veteran something the employer must do rather than may do.
  6. 6The section was enacted in 2015, which is recent enough that an employer handbook written before then may simply predate it.
Form
No form — this is a permission given to the employer
File with
The private employer adopting the policy
Documents you will need
dd214
No renewal
Once granted it does not need renewing.
CorrectionThis is not a hiring preference a veteran can insist on. It authorises an employer to have one. A veteran who reads it as an entitlement in the private sector will be disappointed, and an employer who reads it as a mandate is also wrong.

Sources

Why only one source type: The section is two subsections long and was read in full; it states the permission and the definition in terms, and there is no administering agency page because there is no administering agency.

This finder provides an informational match, not a government eligibility determination. The responsible agency decides your application.