When can we apply for the 2027 HIRE Vets Medallion Award?

DOL's FAQ says applications open every January 31 and close April 30, so the 2027 window runs January 31, 2027 to April 30, 2027. The application is judged on calendar 2026: your hires in 2026, your headcount on December 31, 2026, and the programs you had in place by that date. Under 20 CFR 1011.205, VETS is to notify applicants by October 11, 2027, and recipients are announced around Veterans Day, although DOL announced the 2025 awards late, on January 30, 2026.

How much does it cost to apply?

As of September 2026, DOL lists $120 for small employers (50 or fewer employees), $250 for medium employers (51 to 499) and $640 for large employers (500 or more). The 2026 fees were the program's first increase, made for inflation. You pay through pay.gov, and the fee is not refunded if you withdraw or do not receive an award.

What is the difference between Gold and Platinum?

Platinum raises the veteran numbers from 7 to 10 percent of hires (or of headcount, on the retention path) and from 75 to 85 percent retention, and asks for more support programs. At a large employer, Platinum adds a dedicated HR professional, a Guard and Reserve pay differential and tuition assistance. A small employer can win Gold on the veteran numbers alone, while small Platinum needs two of five support programs.

Can a small business win without a veteran resource group or an HR department?

Yes. Small Gold has no integration assistance requirement at all. Small Platinum needs any two of five items, and one of them, an HR veterans' initiative, can be delivered through a third party such as an American Job Center, according to DOL's application instructions. The veteran numbers still have to reach 7 percent for Gold or 10 percent for Platinum, on either the hiring path or the retention path.

Can we win the award two years in a row?

DOL's FAQ says that, generally, employers may apply annually, and many employers appear on consecutive years' recipient lists. The regulation at 20 CFR 1011.210 still repeats the HIRE Vets Act's rule that an employer who receives an award for one calendar year is not eligible to receive one for the next. If you won last year, ask VETS through hirevets.gov before you pay a fee you cannot get back.

What records do we have to keep?

Under 20 CFR 1011.600, keep a record of all information used to support the application for 2 years from the date you apply. In practice that means the hire lists, veteran self-identification records, December 31 headcount reports and program documents behind each number and description you submit. VETS can ask for documentation if it learns facts suggesting the application was wrong, and not providing it is grounds to deny or revoke the award.

HIRE Vets Medallion: Criteria, Fees and 2027 Dates

Q: Did LockLeed win a HIRE Vets Medallion?

Yes, for 2023. LockLeed International received a 2023 Platinum Award in the small employer category. It appears in DOL's list of 2023 recipients, published in the Federal Register on November 24, 2023 (88 FR 82406), with award type SP, small platinum. The award is for 2023, and we always say so.

Employer Guide · Updated September 2026 · 15 min read

The HIRE Vets Medallion Award is the Department of Labor's recognition for employers that recruit, hire and keep veterans. It is voluntary, it costs a fee, and the rules are short enough to read in one sitting: 20 CFR part 1011. This guide sets out the Gold and Platinum criteria for small, medium and large employers, what the application costs as of September 2026, the dates for the 2027 award, and what you need on file before an executive signs the attestation. LockLeed received a 2023 Platinum Medallion in the small employer category, so we have been through the process ourselves, and we point out where the rules are easy to misread.

Before you rely on this

Fees, dates and criteria here were checked on September 23, 2026 against 20 CFR part 1011 on eCFR, DOL's HIRE Vets FAQ (last updated February 18, 2026), the 2026 criteria table and DOL's recipient notices in the Federal Register. Confirm on hirevets.gov before you apply or pay.

The 2027 window comes from DOL's standing statement that applications open every January 31 and close April 30. If DOL announces different dates for the 2027 cycle, its announcement governs.

The fee table printed at 20 CFR 1011.300 ($90, $190 and $495) is out of date. DOL's FAQ and its March 10, 2026 Federal Register notice give the fees in force since 2026 ($120, $250 and $640).

20 CFR 1011.210 says a recipient is not eligible for an award in the following calendar year, while DOL's FAQ says employers may generally apply annually. If you won the prior year, confirm your eligibility with VETS first.

The Medallion counts all veterans as defined in 38 U.S.C. 101, by calendar year. VETS-4212 counts only protected veterans, generally over 12 months ending in July or August. Do not reuse one report's numbers for the other.

Announcement dates have varied: November 8, 2023, October 31, 2024, and January 30, 2026 for the 2025 awards. Do not plan a launch around a November date.

The percentage tests are floors. A figure of 9.9 percent does not meet a 10 percent test, and at a small employer one hire can move the result across the line.

This guide summarizes the regulation and DOL's published guidance. It is not legal advice. Where anything here differs from 20 CFR part 1011 or the HIRE Vets Act, those govern, as DOL's own application instructions also say.

LockLeed's Medallion is a 2023 award, small employer category, Platinum level. It is not a claim about any other year.

What the award is, and what it is not

Congress created the program in the Honoring Investments in Recruiting and Employing American Military Veterans Act of 2017, known as the HIRE Vets Act, enacted on May 5, 2017 as Division O of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2017 (Public Law 115-31). The Department of Labor's Veterans' Employment and Training Service (VETS) runs it under the regulations at 20 CFR part 1011, adopted in a final rule published on November 13, 2017. As of September 2026, eCFR shows no amendment to part 1011 since it took effect on January 12, 2018.

There are six awards: Gold and Platinum, each in a small, medium and large employer category. Each award is for a single year. Under 20 CFR 1011.400, a recipient receives a certificate that states the year and a digital image of the medallion to use, including as part of an advertisement, solicitation, business activity or product. DOL's fact sheet adds that recipients can use the medallion in their marketing when hiring and when seeking business. DOL announces the recipients, lists them in the Federal Register and shows them on the awardee map at hirevets.gov.

It is recognition, not a benefit program. Nothing in part 1011 attaches a tax credit, a hiring subsidy or a contracting preference to the award. It is also separate from the duties federal contractors carry under VEVRAA, such as the annual VETS-4212 report. A contractor that wins a Medallion still has to file, and a company with no federal contracts at all can win one.

The program is steady in size. According to DOL's recipient notices in the Federal Register, VETS approved 859 of 864 applications for the 2023 award, 838 of 843 for 2024 and 888 of 891 for 2025. The criteria are published in advance, so employers can check whether they meet them before paying to apply, and a senior executive attests to the application under penalty of perjury.

Who can apply, and which size category you are in

Any employer with at least one employee can apply, including nonprofits, local governments and Tribal governments. The federal government, state governments and foreign governments cannot. VETS identifies an employer by the Employer Identification Number (EIN) it uses to issue W-2 forms, so a subsidiary or an independently owned franchise can apply for its own award, separate from its parent company or franchisor.

If a certified professional employer organization (CPEO), or an agent or payor designated under IRS rules, issues W-2s on your behalf, the rule works the other way: you, the common law employer, are the applicant, not the company whose EIN is on the W-2.

Your category depends on your employee count on December 31 of the year before you apply. For a 2027 application, that is your headcount on December 31, 2026.

Small employer: 50 or fewer employees.
Medium employer: more than 50 but fewer than 500 employees (51 to 499).
Large employer: 500 or more employees.

Who counts as an employee, and who counts as a veteran

An employee is anyone you issue a W-2 to, excluding temporary workers. The application form spells out that this includes permanent full-time and permanent part-time staff. A temporary worker is someone hired with the intention of keeping them for less than a year who was in fact kept for less than a year. Both halves have to be true, so a short-term hire who stayed past twelve months counts as an employee.

A veteran has the meaning in 38 U.S.C. 101: a person who served in the active military, naval, air or space service and was discharged or released under conditions other than dishonorable. That is broader than the protected veteran categories federal contractors count on the VETS-4212 report under 41 CFR 61-300.10. Your Medallion numbers and your VETS-4212 numbers will usually differ, and they are not supposed to be the same. The definitions differ, and so do the periods: the Medallion works in calendar years, while a VETS-4212 report generally covers the 12 months ending with a pay period between July 1 and August 31 (41 CFR 61-300.10(d)).

The application instructions say VETS recognizes that most employers learn who is a veteran through employees' self-identification, and that it does not expect you to change that practice to prove every self-identified employee meets the legal definition.

Two counting rules from DOL's FAQ matter for the hiring test. A rehire counts as a new hire if the person had left your organization completely before coming back. An internal move or promotion does not count as a hire.

The criteria for large employers (500 or more)

Large employers must meet every criterion for their tier, including both the hiring test and the retention test. There is no either-or path at this size. The rule is 20 CFR 1011.100. Gold requires all of the following:

Veterans made up at least 7 percent of all employees hired in the prior calendar year.
You kept at least 75 percent of the veterans hired in the calendar year before that for at least 12 months from their hire dates.
You have an employee veteran organization or resource group that helps new veteran employees integrate, including coaching and mentoring.
You have programs to build the leadership skills of veteran employees. DOL's FAQ says the program does not have to be for veterans only, as long as veterans can take part.
You are not ineligible because of a USERRA or VEVRAA outcome, explained in the section on disqualifiers below.

What large employer Platinum adds

Platinum requires everything Gold does at higher thresholds, plus three more commitments:

Veterans made up at least 10 percent of prior-year hires, and you kept at least 85 percent of the earlier year's veteran hires for 12 months.
A dedicated human resources professional: one full-time person, or the equivalent such as two half-time people, working exclusively on hiring, training and retaining veteran employees. Under 20 CFR 1011.115, a large employer with 5,000 or fewer employees can meet this instead with at least one HR professional whose regular duties include that work.
A Guard and Reserve pay differential: for each employee serving on active duty in the National Guard or Reserve, you pay enough that their military pay plus your payment matches their base salary before activation, for as long as they are on active duty.
A tuition assistance program that supports veteran employees in post-secondary education, meaning courses that could count toward a degree, another recognized post-secondary credential or an apprenticeship.

The criteria for medium and small employers

Medium and small employers get a choice on the veteran numbers. You meet either the hiring test, or the retention test paired with a headcount test. DOL's FAQ says the application makes you pick one path before you start and will not let you fill in both. The veteran number tests are the same for both sizes (20 CFR 1011.105 and 1011.110):

Gold, hiring path: veterans were at least 7 percent of all hires in the prior calendar year.
Gold, retention path: you kept at least 75 percent of the veterans hired in the year before that for 12 months, and veterans were at least 7 percent of your employees on December 31 of the prior year.
Platinum, hiring path: veterans were at least 10 percent of prior-year hires.
Platinum, retention path: you kept at least 85 percent of the earlier year's veteran hires for 12 months, and veterans were at least 10 percent of your employees on December 31.

Integration assistance: where medium and small differ

On top of the veteran numbers, the rule asks for support programs, which it calls integration assistance. This is where the two sizes part ways:

Medium Gold: at least one of a veteran employee organization or resource group, or a leadership program.
Medium Platinum: both the resource group and the leadership program, plus at least one of an HR veterans' initiative, the Guard and Reserve pay differential, or tuition assistance.
Small Gold: no integration assistance requirement. The veteran numbers are the whole test.
Small Platinum: any two of five: resource group, leadership program, HR veterans' initiative, pay differential or tuition assistance.

Two details that trip up smaller employers

An HR veterans' initiative is support for the hiring, training and retention of veteran employees, and it has to cover all three. The application instructions say it does not have to be run by your own staff. You can meet it by partnering with a third party, and DOL gives an American Job Center as an example. That matters for a small firm without an HR department.

Small numbers swing hard. If you made 20 hires in a year, two veteran hires is 10 percent and one is 5 percent. The tests say "not less than", so 9.9 percent does not meet a 10 percent test. Work the percentages from actual counts before you pay a fee you cannot get back.

What can disqualify you, or cost you the award later

Under 20 CFR 1011.120, you are ineligible if, in the calendar year before applications are solicited or in the award year up to the award itself, you had any of the following under USERRA or VEVRAA:

An adverse decision finding a violation: a civil or criminal judgment, a final administrative merits determination, or an administrative law judge decision that was not appealed and became final.
A stipulated agreement, such as a settlement, conciliation agreement or consent decree, that contains an admission of a violation. DOL's FAQ says agreements without an admission do not count.
A federal contract debarment under either law, for as long as it is in effect.
A federal contract termination under either law within that window.

Revocation and the display rule

VETS can delay an award if it has credible information that a significant violation may have occurred that could disqualify you (20 CFR 1011.120(f)). After an award, VETS can revoke it if you do not provide documentation it requests, if the executive's attestation was false, if you turn out to have been ineligible because of a USERRA or VEVRAA outcome, or if you break the display rule (20 CFR 1011.230). VETS gives you notice of its decision, and you can ask for reconsideration by mail within 15 business days of the date of that notice (20 CFR 1011.500).

The display rule is short. Under 20 CFR 1011.405 it is unlawful to show the medallion in a way that gives a false impression that you received it, or that you received it for a year you did not. The award belongs to a year, so name the year whenever you use it.

Fees and the 2027 timeline

As of September 2026, DOL's application fees are $120 for small employers, $250 for medium employers and $640 for large employers. The 2026 fees were the first increase in the program's history. DOL raised them for inflation, which it measured at 28.7 percent from April 2017 to April 2025, from the $90, $190 and $495 still printed in the fee table at 20 CFR 1011.300. DOL's FAQ says it adjusts fees for inflation every five years. Confirm the fee on hirevets.gov when you apply.

You pay through the Treasury's pay.gov system. The fee is nonrefundable, even if you withdraw or are turned down. The application form says an application is not processed until the fee arrives, so pay by the April 30 deadline.

The dates for the 2027 award follow 20 CFR 1011.205 and DOL's FAQ:

By December 31, 2026: every program you plan to claim must be in place, and your headcount on that date sets your size category and your veteran percentage. VETS considers only what you did before December 31 of the year before you apply.
January 31, 2027 to April 30, 2027: the application window. DOL's FAQ says applications open every January 31 and close April 30, and 20 CFR 1011.205 requires VETS to call for applications no later than January 31.
By August 31, 2027: VETS finishes reviewing applications.
By September 30, 2027: VETS selects the recipients.
By October 11, 2027: VETS tells applicants whether they will receive an award.
Around Veterans Day in November 2027: DOL is to announce the recipients and then list them in the Federal Register.

When the dates slip, and other timing rules

Treat the announcement date as a target, not a promise. DOL honored the 2023 recipients on November 8, 2023 and the 2024 recipients on October 31, 2024, but announced the 2025 recipients on January 30, 2026. The Federal Register lists followed on November 24, 2023, December 20, 2024 and March 10, 2026.

DOL's FAQ says you can withdraw a submitted application through October 10, but withdrawing stops you from submitting another application in the same program year. If VETS finds your application incomplete, you have 5 business days to supply what is missing or it is denied (20 CFR 1011.215(g)).

What it takes to document an application

The application is an online form of counts, percentages and short written descriptions. Every number you enter has to be one you could back up if VETS asks. A chief executive officer, chief human resources officer or equivalent official, which the form says can be the owner of a small firm, signs an attestation under penalty of perjury, and the form cites 18 U.S.C. 1001, the federal false statements law.

DOL prints its own time estimate on each form: 5.75 hours for the small employer Platinum form and 10.75 hours for the large employer Platinum form. That estimate assumes your data is already in order. Pull these before you open the form:

Your EIN, and your legal name exactly as it is tied to that EIN.
Total employees on December 31 of the prior year, excluding temporary workers, and how many of them are veterans.
Total hires in the prior calendar year, and how many were veterans.
For the retention path or a large employer application: the veterans hired two calendar years back, and how many stayed at least 12 months from their hire dates.
For each integration item you claim, a written description of how it works. Each answer is limited to 1,000 characters, and DOL's FAQ says an answer that is only a link to your website will be treated as inadequate.
Confirmation that you have no disqualifying USERRA or VEVRAA outcome in the window, which you certify on the form.

Getting the veteran counts right, and keeping the records

The hard part is usually the veteran counts. If you only ask about veteran status at onboarding, and only some people answer, your hire and headcount figures can undercount. If you plan to apply in 2027, check now that your HR system can report veteran status by hire date and by December 31 headcount, because both 2026 figures close at year end.

Keep everything behind the numbers. 20 CFR 1011.600 requires you to keep a record of all information used to support the application for 2 years from the date you apply. And keep confidential material out of the written answers: the form warns that information submitted may be made public, and that personally identifiable or proprietary business information should be left out.

LockLeed's 2023 award, and what a Medallion tells a job seeker

LockLeed International received a 2023 HIRE Vets Medallion Platinum Award in the small employer category. DOL's list of 2023 recipients, published in the Federal Register on November 24, 2023 (88 FR 82406), shows LockLeed International of Blaine, Minnesota with award type SP, small platinum. It was one of 147 small platinum awards that year. We always name the year, because the award is for 2023 and 20 CFR 1011.405 makes it unlawful to imply otherwise.

For a veteran weighing an employer, a Medallion is a useful signal with limits. It tells you the employer attested, under penalty of perjury, to meeting a veteran hiring or retention test based on the years just before the award year and, unless it is a small Gold award, to having certain support programs in place. DOL's fact sheet says verification includes that attestation and a check for USERRA and VEVRAA violations. The award does not tell you what a particular job pays, how a particular team treats veterans, or whether the employer still meets the criteria today.

So check the year and the category. DOL lists each year's recipients in the Federal Register with the award type, and hirevets.gov has an awardee map. Then ask the questions the award cannot answer: who your supervisor would be, how the veteran resource group actually works, and, if you serve in the Guard or Reserve, how the employer handles your pay when you are activated.

LockLeed is a direct-hire recruiting firm. The Medallion is earned by an employer's own hiring, retention and programs, and no outside firm can win it for you. Where we can help is the first number on the form: finding veterans to hire.

Sources

Every figure above is drawn from these sources. Figures and rules change, so check the current source before you act.

The HIRE Vets Medallion Award: Criteria, Fees and the 2027 Application