Joined the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare's Coordinating Committee of Federal agencies, private organizations, and veterans groups. The Committee attempts to assure that disabled veterans receive needed rehabilitation services.

Developed, in conjunction with NAB and the VA, a veterans employment seminar program, to be used by the Department of Defense and NAB Metro Offices in informing veterans and soonto-be-released military personnel about marketing their training and skills for employment.

Promoted employment and training opportunities by increasing the number of visits by the VES field service staff to employers and labor union officials. The visits were intended to develop a greater number of job openings.

MANDATORY LISTING

The mandatory listing (ML) program, set in motion by the President in 1971 as part of a six-point veterans program, requires Federal contractors and subcontractors to list suitable job openings with local offices of the Federal-State employment service.

The basis for the program was altered by enactment of the Vietnam Era Veterans' Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974, which amended title 38 of the U.S. Čode. A major revision requires eligible contractors to take affirmative action in hiring and upgrading disabled and Vietnam-era veterans. The Secretary of Labor's regulation under 41 CFR, part 50-250 is currently being revised to incorporate this change.

As shown in table 3, mandatory listing activity grew steadily from the program's initiation through fiscal 1974. Because the economic downturn was marked by layoffs and retrenchments by many Federal contractors, each of the four program items indicative of activity levels lost its year-to-year acceleration in fiscal 1975 and suffered a slight decline from fiscal 1974 levels.

Job openings received by the ES under the mandatory listing program reached almost 1 million in fiscal 1974. In fiscal 1975, however, the number of openings received dropped 14 percent to 845,000 (a level still significantly higher than that for fiscal 1973).

The number of individuals placed in ML openings rose to a peak of 431,000 in fiscal 1974 and then dropped less than 2 percent-to 424,000-in fiscal 1975. Similarly, the number of veterans placed in ML jobs declined from the fiscal 1974 peak of 111,000 to 110,000-a drop of less than 1 percent. The fall in the number of Vietnam-era veterans placed in ML openings was about 2.5 percent, from 82,000 to 80,000. The one category registering a gain was special disabled veterans (as defined in title 38 of the U.S. Code); 1,500 were placed in ML openings during fiscal 1975, a 7.1-percent increase over the fiscal 1974 figure of 1,400.

72-939-763

TABLE 3.-Veterans placed on mandatory listing orders, fiscal years

1972-75

As is shown below, the contribution of the mandatory listing program to veteran placement efforts by the ES has risen steadily since the program's inception:

The program received additional stimulation in fiscal 1975 from a series of seminars designed to provide all State and regional mandatory. listing coordinators with a better understanding of the mission of the program. Techniques to bring about more effective program operation were also reviewed in these sessions.

Compliance support activity by contracting Federal agencies was accelerated during fiscal 1975. A number of Federal contractors and their corporately related companies were brought into fuller compliance by Federal agency contract officers.

Job orders received by the ES solely as a result of mandatory listing requirements cannot be readily separated from those it would otherwise have received. Apparently, however, the increase in the number of individuals placed by the ES from 2.3 million in fiscal 1972 to 3.1 million in fiscal 1975 is partly attributable to the mandatory listing program. OTHER DEPARTMENTAL SERVICES

In addition to the work of the public employment service, the Department of Labor provided a number of other services for the unemployed veteran. They included income maintenance activities, employment and training assistance under the provisions of CETA, and the monitoring of veterans' reemployment rights.

Unemployment Compensation for Ex-Servicemen

The Unemployment Compensation for Ex-Servicemen (UCX) program provides unemployment benefits for eligible veterans while they are seeking employment. Pursuant to agreements with the Secre

tary of Labor, State employment security agencies take claims and pay benefits from Federal funds to veterans under the same terms and conditions and in the same amounts provided by the unemployment insurance law of the State in which the veteran files his or her first claim. Veterans who have had 90 or more days of continuous active service and were discharged under conditions other than dishonorable are entitled to UCX benefits.

The level of UCX activities increased between fiscal 1974 and 1975, as shown in table 4. The average duration of unemployment also increased, indicating that some claimants were experiencing difficulty in obtaining new employment.

The substantial rise in the total dollar amount of program benefit payments from $206 million in fiscal 1974 to $361 million the following year reflected an increased number of claimants, higher maximums in weekly benefit amounts payable as a result of revisions in State laws, and an increased average duration of weeks of unemployment experienced by claimants.

In addition to providing income maintenance for qualified unemployed veterans, State unemployment insurance units also serve veterans in other ways. For example, unemployed veterans applying for UCX benefits are referred to the ES for placement, training, or other services. As part of an intensive nationwide effort to place veterans in jobs or training, local State unemployment insurance offices have been providing lists of veterans unemployed for 13 or more weeks to local State employment service offices, so that special services may be given to any long-term unemployed veterans.

TABLE 4.-Activities under the unemployment compensation for exservicemen (UCX) program, fiscal years 1974-75

The regulations that govern the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act contain a number of specific provisions relating to veterans which enable them to more easily qualify for assistance. Under title I regulations, for example, prime sponsors are required to give special consideration to eligible disabled veterans, special veterans, and veterans who received other than a dishonorable discharge within 4 years of the date of their CETA application. In selecting

participants for title I programs, sponsors are to take into consideration the extent to which such veterans are represented in the area's population.

În order to be eligible for participation under title I, veteranslike all other applicants must be unemployed, underemployed, or economically disadvantaged. However, a directive issued by the Department of Labor regarding the method of computing annual income in determining whether an individual is economically disadvantaged includes special exceptions for veterans. Pay or allowances received while serving on active duty, as well as educational assistance and compensation payments to veterans and other eligible persons under chapters 11, 13, 31, 34, 35, and 36 of title 38 U.S.C. (such as war orphans' and widows' educational assistance and vocational rehabilitation), are excluded from income computations.

In selecting participants for public service employment (PSE) programs under titles I, II, and VI of CETA, State and local governments are required to provide special consideration to eligible disabled veterans, special veterans, and veterans who received other than a dishonorable discharge within 4 years of the date of their application to CETA. Again, consideration must be given to the extent to which such veterans are represented in the area. All PSE vacancies except those to which former employees are being recalled must be listed with the State employment service at least 48 hours before such vacancies are filled. During this period, only those veterans specified above can be referred for consideration. Only if the number of veteran applicants is insufficient may the State employment service, upon request, refer members of other target groups for consideration.

Special attention to developing appropriate full- or part-time employment opportunities for veterans is emphasized in CETA. In addition, information on job vacancies and training opportunities funded under titles I, II, and VI is to be made available on a continuing and timely basis to State and local Veterans Employment Representatives (VER's) and to veterans organizations for the purpose of disseminating information to those eligible.

In another effort to facilitate assistance to veterans under titles II and VI, a CETA regulation allows veterans to qualify for public service employment immediately upon discharge, without regard to the usual 30-day unemployment requirement.

According to the latest data available, veterans enrolled under titles I, II, and VI constitute 13.4 percent of all CETA participants. Titles II and VI programs, however, serve higher percentages of veterans-23.9 percent and 27.1 percent, respectively (see table 5). The lower rate of veteran participation in title I programs seems to indicate that the majority of veteran applicants are job ready, possessing the skills needed for-and preferring-public service employment positions instead of the training offered under title I.

A survey based on a 5-percent sample of CETA prime sponsors located in each of the 10 regions of the Department of Labor is being conducted in an effort to obtain information on the nature of training and the types of occupations for which veterans are being prepared under CETA. Interim results of the study reflect the following:

Under title I, the largest proportion of veterans are enrolled in classroom training, followed by on-the-job training:

In programs under titles II and VI, veterans were placed most frequently in public works and transportation jobs and in law enforcement:

Veterans were being trained in a wide variety of occupations:

For many years, Federal statutes have entitled eligible veterans, National Guard members, and reservists to return to the employment. they left to perform military training or service, with the position, seniority, status, and rate of pay they would have achieved if their employment had not been interrupted. On December 3, 1974, as part