On November 21, President Obama signed into law the American Jobs Act, that allows for two new tax credits for hiring unemployed veterans.  Coinciding with these incentives, the Administration also launched the Veterans Job Bank to help veterans more easily identify the companies who are looking to hire them.

The Tax Credits

The Returning Heroes Tax Credit allows different credits for short-term and long-term unemployed veterans.  This means up to $2,400 for veterans who have been unemployed at least four weeks and up to $5,600 for veterans who have been unemployed longer than six months.

The Wounded Warrior Tax Credit will allow a credit of up to $9,600 for hiring veterans with service-connected disabilities that have been unemployed for longer than six months.

Click here for more details about the veteran tax credits.

Veterans Job Bank

To increase the connection between veterans seeking jobs and employers seeking to hire veterans, the Obama Administration has launched the Veterans Job Bank.  According to the website, “The Veterans Job Bank returns job opportunities based on search criteria entered by the user. Powered by a Google search, jobs are drawn from various job boards that have posted or specifically tagged jobs for Veterans.”

Employers seeking to participate in the Veterans Job Bank can follow these instructions to ensure their jobs appear in the appropriate searches.  The instructions are detailed and become very technical quickly, so you’ll want to get your IT department or applicant tracking system provider involved in the process.