Veterans' Preference in Federal Hiring, Explained

Veterans’ preference gives eligible veterans, and some of their family members, a legal edge in competitive federal hiring. The edge is real, but it is narrower and more mechanical than the phrase “five extra points” suggests. Preference does not add points to a merit-promotion score, it does not apply to most internal moves, and it never forces an agency to hire you. What it does is reorder the list of who gets referred and, for the most disabled veterans, block a pass-over without sign-off. This guide separates the pieces so you claim the right one.

5-point vs 10-point: what earns each

The governing statute is 5 USC 2108, which defines who is a “preference eligible.” There are two tiers.

5-point preference (code TP) goes to a veteran discharged under honorable conditions who served on active duty (not solely for training) during at least one qualifying window: during a war; from April 28, 1952 through July 1, 1955; for more than 180 consecutive days, any part of which fell after January 31, 1955 and before October 15, 1976; during the Gulf War from August 2, 1990 through January 2, 1992; or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge was authorized (Southwest Asia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq, and the other listed operations). Five-point preference is about qualifying service, not disability.

10-point preference goes to veterans with a service-connected disability or a Purple Heart, and to certain family members. The 10-point tier is where the disability categories live, and the category letters matter because they carry different protections.

The 10-point categories, by letter

• CP: compensable disability of 10 to 29 percent. A 10-point preference for a veteran with a service-connected disability that VA rates from 10 through 29 percent.
• CPS: compensable disability of 30 percent or more. The same 10 points, plus the strongest protection in the system (the pass-over rule below).
• XP: disability under 10 percent, or a Purple Heart. A 10-point preference for a veteran with a service-connected disability rated below 10 percent (including a 0 percent, non-compensable rating) or who received the Purple Heart.
• Derived preference (also 10-point). When the veteran cannot use their own preference, it can pass to family: the spouse of a veteran disqualified for federal work by a service-connected disability, the unmarried widow or widower of a veteran, or the mother (in some cases the father) of a veteran who died in service or is permanently and totally disabled. The relative claims the points based on the veteran’s service.

What preference actually does now: category rating

Most agencies no longer score applicants on the old 100-point numerical scale. They use category rating under 5 USC 3319, which sorts qualified applicants into quality tiers such as Best Qualified, Well Qualified, and Qualified. Preference works two ways inside that system:

• Preference eligibles are listed ahead of non-preference eligibles within the same quality category. Same category, veterans on top.
• A veteran with a compensable service-connected disability of 10 percent or more (CP and CPS) is moved to the top of the highest quality category, regardless of where the raw rating would have landed them, except for scientific or professional positions at GS-9 and above. This is the practical meaning of “floating to the top.”

The selecting official then chooses from the highest category (or, if fewer than three candidates sit there, a merged top-two category). Notice what changed: under category rating the difference between 5 and 10 points is not arithmetic anymore. Status gets you ordered ahead of non-veterans in your tier, and a 10-percent-plus disability lifts you into the top tier. The “points” language survives from the old system and from the pass-over rules.

The 30 percent rule: an agency cannot just skip you

This is the CPS advantage and the single most important protection to understand. Under 5 USC 3318, an appointing official generally may not pass over a higher-standing preference eligible to appoint a non-preference eligible without a sufficient, documented reason. For a preference eligible with a compensable service-connected disability of 30 percent or more (CPS), the bar is higher: the agency must notify both the Office of Personnel Management and the veteran in writing of the proposed pass-over and its reasons, the veteran has 15 days to respond to OPM, and OPM must review before any pass-over can proceed. In short, a 30 percent or more disabled veteran near the top of the list cannot be passed over on a hunch. Someone has to justify it to OPM.

Three special hiring authorities: which door fits

Preference points are one path. Separately, three appointing authorities let agencies hire veterans without the standard competitive process, and veterans routinely confuse them. They are different doors for different situations.

• VRA (Veterans Recruitment Appointment). A noncompetitive excepted-service appointment up to the GS-11 level or equivalent, with no public job announcement required. Open to disabled veterans, veterans who served in a war or a campaign or expedition with a badge, veterans of an operation that earned an Armed Forces Service Medal, and recently separated veterans (within three years of discharge). After two years of satisfactory service the agency converts you to a career or career-conditional appointment. This is the right door when an agency wants to bring you on quickly at GS-11 or below.
• VEOA (Veterans’ Employment Opportunities Act). This one is not preference at all. It is the right to compete for a permanent, competitive-service job that an agency has opened to candidates outside its own workforce under merit-promotion procedures. Eligible if you are a preference eligible, or a veteran separated after three or more years of continuous active service under honorable conditions. You get no points and no float here. You get a seat at the table you would otherwise be locked out of, and you have to rank among the best qualified on your own. This is the right door for a higher-graded merit-promotion posting when you are not already a federal employee.
• 30 percent or more disabled veteran authority. A noncompetitive appointment with no grade-level cap, for veterans rated 30 percent or more service-connected disabled (or retired from active duty with a 30-percent-plus disability). The initial appointment is time-limited (more than 60 days) but can be converted to a permanent position noncompetitively at any point. This is the right door when you have a 30 percent rating and an agency wants you above GS-11 without running a competition.

Schedule A: the adjacent door for a disability

Do not confuse the 30 percent veteran authority with Schedule A (5 CFR 213.3102(u)), the excepted-service authority for people with an intellectual, severe physical, or psychiatric disability. Schedule A is not tied to military service, and it requires proof of a disability from a licensed professional or a benefits agency rather than a VA rating. A disabled veteran can qualify under both. If you have a service-connected condition that also meets Schedule A, ask which authority the agency is using, because the paperwork differs.

The SF-15 and your paperwork

To claim 10-point preference you complete the SF-15, Application for 10-Point Veteran Preference, and attach proof: your DD-214 (member copy 4) and, for a disability claim, an official VA letter dated to show your current combined service-connected rating. Five-point preference generally needs only a DD-214 showing qualifying service and an honorable or general discharge. On USAJOBS you select your preference and upload the documents when you apply. If the file does not prove the claim, the agency cannot award the preference, so a current, dated VA rating letter is worth pulling before you apply.

The honest limits

Preference is powerful in its lane and absent everywhere else. Keep these straight:

• It is not a guarantee. It reorders lists and blocks unjustified pass-overs. It does not compel a hire.
• It applies to competitive hiring from outside, not to internal moves. Your preference does not apply to promotions, transfers, reassignments, or reinstatements within an agency’s own workforce. VEOA only buys you the right to compete when an agency opens a merit-promotion job to the public.
• Senior Executive Service and many merit-promotion actions are outside it.
• Retired officers can lose it. A retired member of the armed forces is generally not a preference eligible if they retired at or above the rank of major or lieutenant commander (O-4), unless they are a disabled veteran.

If you are weighing a federal job while receiving TDIU, understand the tension first: TDIU is paid because your service-connected conditions keep you from substantially gainful work, so taking a full federal position can put that benefit at risk in a way a schedular rating does not. And if your goal is federal employment through training, VR&E (Chapter 31) can fund the path.

For the hiring side, OPM’s Feds Hire Vets and your target agency’s Veteran Employment Program Office will walk you through preference and the special authorities at no cost, and the Department of Labor’s American Job Centers offer free help to veteran job seekers. For the VA rating letter that documents a disability claim, a free VA-accredited representative or VSO can pull your current rating and never charges for it. VeteranPlug is an independent reference, not affiliated with VA.