Veteran employment tax credits and hiring resources
On Veterans Day 2011, the International Franchise Association launched an industry-wide campaign, Operation Enduring Opportunity, to hire as team members and recruit as franchise business owners 75,000 veterans and military spouses, plus 5,000 wounded warriors, by the end of 2014. A recent report shows over 64,000 veterans, military spouses and wounded warriors have started careers in franchising, since 2011. Additionally, tax credits for hiring unemployed veterans have just been renewed. These results are a great step forward toward our goals. But with unemployment rates for veterans ages 18-24 stuck at 22.7%, "we must keep up the momentum to enable those who have served and sacrificed to fulfill their dreams and find meaningful career opportunities here at home," said IFA President & CEO Steve Caldeira. We hope you will join Operation Enduring Opportunity and hire veterans. Veterans thrive as franchise employees. Teamwork, leadership, implementing systems and improving processes are essential skills veterans learn in the military that directly translate to the franchise world. One out of every seven franchise businesses are owned by veterans of the U.S. military. The just renewed tax benefits are tiered tax credits for employers who hire out of work veterans. Hiring a veteran unemployed for over a month yields a credit of $2,400; if they have been unemployed for over six months the credit is $5,600. The credit can rise as high as $9,600 for hiring a veteran disabled in a combat zone who has been out of work for more than six months. More details, including how to go about claiming the credits can be found here. A fall 2012 IFA survey found that while the vast majority of franchisors know about special tax credits for hiring veterans, 80% of franchisees do NOT. As most hiring in franchising is done by franchise owners, we urge you to please share this email with all of your franchisees. Good (and free) resources for hiring veterans are:
IFA’s webinar on how employers can use the Veterans Job Bank can be found here. A fact sheet on the H2H job board can be found here and the H2H Mobile Job Store will be at IFA’s Convention in Las Vegas February 17-20. As good initial step is reaching out to your local Department of Veterans Affairs office and telling them you are looking to hire. Here is a VA office locator. I also encourage you to reach out to the Department of Labor’s Gold Card program. You can contact their local centers and tell them you are interested in hiring veterans. Military Bases have Transition Assistance Programs (TAPs) that guide separating service-members. You can find contact information for local TAPs here. IFA’s VetFran partners closely with the Chamber of Commerce’s Hiring Our Heroes program, which sponsors veteran and military spouse hiring fairs all over the country. The White House Joining Forces Guide to Hiring Veterans can act as an excellent reference as you begin recruiting veterans. Thank you for your concern for our veterans.