Answer 10 Questions, Get an Award Logo & Benchmarking Report in Days *
Earn and use our seal of approval, at no cost
The Vetted Employer Badge shows job candidates and customers that an organization is a top Veteran employer. Organizations earn it by meeting key standards for Veteran employer awards, and those that do so can use it for free — digital or print, internal or external
Designed for employers of all types and sizes
The survey is balanced to fairly evaluate all kinds of employers and industries, from small startups to the world’s largest corporations and everything in-between, whether companies, nonprofits, or government agencies/departments (including law enforcement)
Easy survey, deep benchmarking analysis
This short survey can easily be completed in one afternoon — yet our advanced analysis provides actionable, customized feedback in unprecedented detail, evaluating each employer across two dozen best practices in the free, 40+ page Vetted Checkup Report
No fees or charges of any kind — really!
Most supposedly “free” Veteran employer awards programs have hidden charges: membership costs, application fees, sponsorships, licensing fees. Our program is actually free of charge, start to finish
*Not every organization that submits a survey will earn an award; participants must meet key standards for employing the Military-Connected community
Get Vetted: Start Your Vetted Checkup Survey Right Now
Click the “Request Survey” button below, provide your name and email, and we will immediately send you a custom survey to fill out. Learn more about the data you’ll need and how the program works by reviewing the adjacent links.
If you already registered for the survey for one employer but need another survey copy for a different organization, please load this page in a private/incognito browser window and register under a different email address. Let us know if you need help.
Best Practices & Custom Benchmarking
All in One Report
The Vetted Checkup Report is a powerful diagnostic tool, explaining best practices for employing Veterans and the military community — while using data from the Vetted Checkup Survey to pinpoint your organization’s strengths and weaknesses
No cost, for a limited time
In the future, employers will likely need to pay to access this valuable report, but we are currently providing it free of charge, as a thank you to our inaugural survey participants
Clear explanations
The report uses simple language everyone can understand — both to explain why the best practices matter and to show how your organization does or doesn’t meet the related benchmarks
Unmatched detail
Analyzing two dozen best practices across a 40+ page report, this document provides in-depth, actionable intelligence you won’t find anywhere else
Proof of vet budget needs & impact
Using your organization’s own data, the report shows the improvements that would make the biggest impact for your military-connected employees, helping leadership better understand the ROI for bigger budgets
Review our sample report to learn more — then get your own custom report by clicking “Request Survey” in the section above, registering, and filling out the survey
The Vetted Employers Advantage
We spent years working closely with employers and Veterans to identify the best practices that make the biggest impact for Military-Connected employees. Our team distilled this expertise into the 10-question Vetted Checkup Survey to give organizations an easy yet insightful evaluation showing where employers excel in their work with the Military-Connected community — and where there may be room for improvement.
Trustworthy & not for sale
Vetted Employer recognition can only be earned based on what organizations do for Veterans — it can never be bought
Custom-tailored branding
Recognized organizations receive custom media kits, including news releases featuring the organization name, the Vetted Employer Badge, and more. There is no cost; just link the badge logo back to this website when it is used online
Expert insights for your program
Get a better understanding of your Veteran program, through the Vetted Checkup Report, which provides in-depth data analysis to all survey participants
Ironclad protection for your data
Data provided for our Veteran employer awards are kept confidential, as are the names of organizations that submit surveys but fall short of recognition
Easily complete the survey in one sitting
This 10-question survey asks for only the most important metrics and can be finished in minutes, not days or weeks
Get your results — and badge — right away
Our fast evaluation process analyzes survey responses as they come in and can turn around results, as well as badges and media kits for qualifying employers, in fewer than 2 weeks
Help improving Veteran policies & services
Beyond explaining what to improve, we can directly help you build a better program, through our management & consulting
How It Works
1
First request a 10-question Vetted Checkup Survey by clicking the button above
2
Next fill out the survey with your organization’s information and press Submit
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If Vetted Employer status is achieved: Receive a media kit with badge and custom news release
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If Vetted Employer status is not achieved: Identify and fix shortcomings (see steps 3 and 4 below), and take survey again
3
Then review our Vetted Checkup Report for tailored analysis of your survey results and find opportunities to improve
4
Leverage our program management & consulting for direct help making improvements
5
Continue to submit surveys annually to maintain Vetted Employer recognition and awards
Vetted Checkup Survey Overview
Forget the 100-question and 200-question Veteran employer awards surveys you may have seen elsewhere — our survey is just 10 questions, plus a few sub-questions and organization contact and profile information. You can download the full survey here and these are the 10 items covered:
- Q1: How does your organization work to recruit and hire the Military-Connected community?
- Q2: Do you have staff dedicated to recruiting or supporting Military-Connected employees?
- Q3: Can you provide data on your Military-Connected employees and new hires?
- Q4: Do you have a Veteran Employee Resource Group (ERG/BRG), and what does it do?
- Q5: Do you have mentorship programs, and to what extent do Military-Connected employees participate?
- Q6: Do you offer special on-boarding or advancement programs for Military-Connected employees, or training for staff who recruit or support them?
- Q7: How often are Military-Connected employees promoted, as compared to other employees?
- Q8: Have you signed agreements with — or received awards from — federal DoW/DoD or Labor Department programs?
- Q9: Do you offer pay to training or activated Guard/Reserve members?
- Q10: Do you provide flexible work allowances for Military Spouses dealing with relocation or deployment orders?
Coming in 2027: The Vetted Awards Program
While the Vetted Checkup Survey determines whether organizations meet the basic standards required for Vetted Employer status, the Vetted Awards Survey goes deeper, evaluating organizations competitively and considering additional metrics to determine whether to further honor them as Distinguished, Advanced, Superior, or Elite Vetted Employers. Here are the details on our higher-level Veteran awards program:
Builds on Vetted Checkup Survey
This program builds on the Vetted Checkup Survey detailed above. Organizations must submit that survey and achieve Vetted Employer status to be considered for the higher-level Vetted Awards Program
Also Completely Cost-Free
Like the Vetted Checkup Program, the Vetted Awards Program is entirely free-of-charge, from start to finish. There are no fees or costs associated with any part of the survey or recognition, including rights to use the award badges and media kits with no licensing fees
Competitive & More Detailed Evaluation
The Vetted Awards Survey will ask for more data related to employing Veterans and the Military-Connected Community than the 10-question Vetted Checkup Survey. It will be evaluated competitively, making relative comparisons among organizations to determine award levels
Launches in 2027
Our team is finalizing the Vetted Awards Survey now. We are planning to launch it in 2027 and announce the awardees shortly before Veterans Day
To participate in the Vetted Awards Program, first request and submit the Vetted Checkup Survey:
Guidelines & Key Dates
Integrity & Objectivity
The only way to earn the Vetted Employer Badge is by meeting the key, objective standards that make a difference for Veterans and the Military-Connected community.
Unfortunately, shady, pay-to-play Veteran employer awards programs have proliferated in recent years. We designed our programs to stand in sharp contrast, based on meaningful measures of how employers support the Military-Connected community — and not on whether they pay us money.
We ask only that Vetted Employer Badge and awards logos link back to www.vettedemployers.com wherever recognized organizations display them online. There are absolutely no costs associated with any part of our survey & recognition programs: no charges to register for or submit a survey, no fees to be evaluated for recognition, no membership or sponsorship costs, and no licensing fees to use our badge logos for organizations that earn recognition.
While we offer paid Veteran program consulting and management services for organizations that need assistance, these are completely independent of our Veteran employer awards. Organizations can earn any level of award with or without our consulting services, and consulting clients only receive recognition if it is merited by the data in their surveys.
Confidentiality
Our Veteran employer awards programs balance the needs of organizations to protect their proprietary data and public reputations with the needs of our evaluations to measure organizations based on meaningful, sometimes internal, data.
We do not publish any information specific to an organization that is provided in survey responses, except for the organization’s name and logo, as well as the recognition level earned based on their surveys, for those that are recognized.
If an organization submits a survey but the data provided does not meet the standards required for Vetted Employer recognition, we make no mention of their participation in the survey, so from a public perspective, there is no way to tell whether an organization that is not named on our website submitted a survey or not. This means there is no reputational risk for organizations to submit a survey response.
We can sign non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) establishing our confidentiality policies in a legal document if that would help your organization participate; just reach out to request this.
Timeframes & Deadlines
Vetted Checkup Survey
- Survey Opens: Jan. 28, 2026
- Response Deadline: No deadline — we will accept responses throughout 2026 — but we recommend submitting your survey as soon as possible, so your organization has more time to use the Vetted Employer Badge and media kit, if recognition is earned
- Results Announced: As surveys are submitted. We will start the evaluation process immediately after the “Submit” button is pressed and circle back with evaluation results, as well as the badge and media kit (if earned), within 2 weeks of survey submission
Frequently Asked Questions
See below for additional important information on how our Veteran employer awards programs work. For full details, please visit our FAQ webpage.
How can my organization participate?
To participate, you must submit your survey through our online platform: First, register for the survey (above), and then use the custom survey link sent to the registered email address to access and fill out the survey
Can I share my custom survey link?
You are welcome to share your survey link internally, with colleagues at your organization helping fill out the survey, but to ensure the accuracy and confidentiality of your survey responses, you should not share this link with external organizations
Which web browser should I use to fill out the survey?
Our surveys work best on the Google Chrome web browser, so we recommend using that browser to fill them out online
Is there a penalty for skipping survey questions?
Please provide as much information as possible to increase your organization’s chances for Vetted Employer recognition and awards. The more you tell us, the better we can credit your organization for its efforts to employ the Military-Connected community
Are my answers saved if I start — but don’t finish — a survey response?
Yes, your answers are saved automatically when you advance from one survey page to another. So you can complete your survey in multiple sessions — simply click on the same custom survey link used to fill out the survey previously, and you’ll be returned to where you left off, with all previous answers appearing, whether your last time working on the survey was hours, days, weeks, or months ago
How many surveys should my organization submit?
Please provide only one Vetted Checkup Survey response and one Vetted Awards Survey response per organization. These evaluations analyze information on organization-wide policies, practices, and outcomes, as provided by the organization leadership/HR — not the personal testimonials or ratings of individual Military-Connected employees — so there is no need for multiple responses to the same survey from the same organization
When should I submit the Vetted Checkup Survey?
There is no deadline — we will accept responses throughout 2026 — but we recommend submitting your survey as soon as possible, so your organization has more time to leverage the Vetted Employer Badge and media kit (if recognized)
If I submit a Vetted Checkup Survey but do not earn recognition, can I try again?
Yes, if you submit a survey but fall short of Vetted Employer recognition, you are welcome to take the Vetted Checkup Survey again, if new data becomes available or revised policies are established
Can I double-check my responses before submitting the survey?
Yes, and we encourage it! Every page of the survey has a “Next” button on the bottom right that advances to the following page, except for the final page of the survey, which has a “Submit” button instead. The last survey page, which has that “Submit” button, will show all of your survey responses in a non-editable, read-only format. Please review these responses carefully — and if you find anything that needs to be edited, press the “Previous” button to go back to the survey page containing the response in question and update it there — before pressing the “Submit” button
Meet Our Team
Vetted Employers is led by two co-founders who have years of experience advising organizations of all types on building strong employment programs for Veterans, members of the Guard & Reserves, and Military Spouses
George Altman, Co-Founder
George has led prominent Veteran employment initiatives at three different organizations, and through his work, he helped countless employers improve their recruiting, retention, and support of Veterans and the Military-Connected community. He has developed and overseen Veteran employment evaluations that were published in national and international news publications and that also formed the basis for financial investment funds and products. Through this work, George refined and ultimately revolutionized methods for measuring and evaluating employers’ Veterans programs, while also providing advice and support directly to organizations working to improve their Veteran employment efforts.
See full bio
Bruce Townshend, Co-Founder
Bruce Townshend has nearly 45 years of combined military and government service and is passionate about helping Veterans succeed and in helping employers hire and retain Veterans in their workforce. He served a total of 28 years in the Army and Army Reserve, both enlisted and as a commissioned officer. He recently retired from the Dept. of Defense/Dept. of War, where he last served as Chief of Engagement for the department’s Employer Support of the Guard & Reserves program (ESGR), specializing in programs supporting Veterans transitioning from the military and employers of Service members serving in the Guard and Reserve. He has traveled extensively both domestically and abroad in support of those programs, working with corporate executives, small business owners and trade associations.
See full bio
Vetted Briefings Blog
Expert insights on employing Veterans and the Military-Connected community, detailed in short videos
How to Successfully On-Board Veteran Hires
When you’ve successfully hired veterans, bringing them on board is one of the most crucial parts of the process to be successful in keeping them retained on your payroll after you bring them…
The Critical Importance of a Military Employee Group (BRG/ERG)
Hiring veterans and retaining veterans is hard enough. We can help you by helping you establish and maintain what we like to call the business resource group or BRG, especially for veterans in…
Is Your Organization Veteran Preferred?
We’ve all heard the term “veteran ready.” We see it on banners, we see it on websites, we see it on literature for different businesses that want to hire veterans. But what does…
Survey Links & Resources
To start your survey response, click the button below, then register with your name and email address and you will immediately receive a survey
The appearance of U.S. Department of War/Department of Defense (DoW/DoD) visual information does not imply or constitute DoW/DoD endorsement.
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