The Office of Personnel Management has issued a new guidance detailing how the parents of deceased or disabled veterans can now claim veterans' preference. A new law amends the veteran preference statute to include both parents of deceased or permanently disabled veterans instead of the previous version of the law, which extended preference only to the mother of a veteran. Veterans' preference promotes eligible veterans for civil service jobs over other applicants based on their military service. The new guidance allows the parent of a deceased or permanently disabled veteran to claim their preference if: (1) the spouse of that parent is permanently disabled or (2) the parent is unmarried or legally separated when the preference is claimed. The agency is currently updating relevant print materials and website pages to accommodate the new changes.
For more on veteran benefit programs, visit the Military.com Benefits Center.
