The Internet Applicant rule in 2026: what it required and what is left

The Internet Applicant rule decided which online job seekers a federal contractor had to count as applicants. It lived in 41 CFR 60-1.3, part of the regulations implementing Executive Order 11246, and that executive order was revoked in January 2025. A final rule published on August 21, 2026 removes the whole of part 60-1, definition included, effective October 26, 2026. What survives is narrower: contractors covered by the veterans' law, VEVRAA, still have to count applicants and hires every year, and they now have to decide for themselves who an applicant is.

Below: the timeline, what the rule actually said, the records it required, what VEVRAA and Section 503 ask for as of October 2026, and a practical way to keep your applicant counts defensible. For the log itself, see the applicant flow log template.

The timeline, 2025 to 2026

Two things are easy to miss. First, the definition was still printed in the eCFR as of October 1, 2026, because the removal had not yet taken effect; the eCFR is not a reliable signal of what OFCCP enforces. Second, the rescission says it does not affect the EEOC's EEO-1 report, which is a separate Title VII obligation covered in EEO-1 reporting requirements.

What the rule said

Under 41 CFR 60-1.3, an Internet Applicant was any individual who met all four of these criteria:

1. The individual submitted an expression of interest in employment through the internet or related electronic data technologies.
2. The contractor considered the individual for employment in a particular position.
3. The individual's expression of interest indicated that they possessed the basic qualifications for the position.
4. The individual did not, at any point before receiving an offer, remove themselves from consideration or otherwise indicate they were no longer interested.

The section also set rules for what a basic qualification could be. It had to be established in advance, noncomparative (a threshold, such as "two years of payroll experience," not "among the most experienced"), objective, and relevant to performance of the position. Using random sampling or an absolute numerical limit to cut down a large pile was not "considering" the people never looked at, and withdrawal could be shown by an express statement or by repeated non-responsiveness.

An invented example of how the definition worked: 300 people apply online for a payroll specialist role whose advertised basic qualifications are two years of payroll experience and the ability to work on site in Denver. The recruiter reviews 200 of them in order of receipt and stops. Of those 200, 90 meet both qualifications, and 6 of the 90 tell the recruiter they have taken other jobs. Under the rule, the contractor had 84 Internet Applicants for that position. The 100 never reviewed, the 110 who did not meet the basic qualifications and the 6 who withdrew were not counted, although their submissions still had to be kept.

The records that went with it

The recordkeeping rule at 41 CFR 60-1.12 required contractors to keep records for at least two years from the date the record was made or the personnel action taken, whichever is later, or one year for contractors with fewer than 150 employees or no government contract of at least $150,000. The records included:

• Expressions of interest submitted online, including online resumes and internal resume databases.
• For internal resume databases, a record of each resume added, the date it was added, and the position each search was for.
• For searches of external databases, the position searched for, the substantive search criteria used, the date of the search and the resumes of job seekers who met the basic qualifications.
• The ability to identify, where possible, the gender, race and ethnicity of each applicant or Internet Applicant.

These requirements disappear with part 60-1 on October 26, 2026. The general federal retention rule for employers covered by Title VII, the ADA and GINA, 29 CFR 1602.14, does not: it still requires keeping hiring records, including applications from people who were not hired, for at least one year. See how long to keep interview notes for the full schedule.

What VEVRAA and Section 503 still require, as of October 2026

Both laws are statutes, not executive orders, so revoking EO 11246 did not touch them. OFCCP's home page tells contractors that Section 503 and VEVRAA remain in effect. The August 2026 final rules did change what they require, and the changes point in opposite directions for applicant data.

Sources: the VEVRAA final rule, the Section 503 final rule, and the eCFR text of 60-300.44 as of October 1, 2026. The VEVRAA figures rose from $150,000 to $200,000 through the federal acquisition inflation adjustment.

The VEVRAA counts

Under 60-300.44(k), a covered contractor must document, every year, and keep for three years:

• The number of applicants who self-identified as protected veterans, or who are otherwise known to be protected veterans.
• The total number of job openings and the total number of jobs filled.
• The total number of applicants for all jobs.
• The number of protected veteran applicants hired.
• The total number of applicants hired.

The VEVRAA regulations do not define "applicant." When OFCCP issued them in 2013, the preamble said that while OFCCP "does not formally adopt the definition of 'Internet applicant'" into the VEVRAA rules, it was "harmonizing" them with the EO 11246 rule (78 FR 58614). With the EO 11246 definition gone, there is nothing left to harmonize with, and the 2026 VEVRAA rule does not address the question. We did not find OFCCP guidance, as of October 2026, on how contractors should define applicants for these counts.

Keeping an applicant definition anyway

You still need some definition: VEVRAA requires a count, and any adverse impact analysis of your own selection steps, of the kind described in the four-fifths rule, needs a denominator. A count that changes meaning between requisitions is worse than useless, because it can show a pattern that is really just a change in bookkeeping. A sensible approach, to agree with counsel:

1. Write the definition down. Many contractors will keep the four Internet Applicant criteria because their systems and past reports already use them, and continuity makes year-on-year comparisons meaningful.
2. Set basic qualifications before posting. Objective, noncomparative and job related, as the old rule required. This is good practice for any screen, and it is the same discipline as in writing a job description that screens.
3. Record why each person dropped out, using a short fixed list of reasons, so you can tell "did not meet basic qualifications" from "withdrew" from "not reviewed."
4. Keep self-identification separate from the application the hiring team sees, and never ask recruiters or interviewers to guess anyone's veteran status, race or sex.
5. Apply it to every channel. Online applications, referrals, agency submittals and sourced candidates should be counted the same way, or the log will skew toward whichever channel is easiest to record.

What recruiters and agencies should change now

• Do not delete old records on October 26. Records made under the old rule may still matter in a lawsuit, a charge under Title VII, or a VEVRAA review, and 29 CFR 1602.14 still applies.
• Keep the veteran self-identification invitation for VEVRAA-covered clients, before and after an offer, as 60-300.42 still requires.
• Remove the disability self-identification form only after the client's compliance team confirms it. The Section 503 rule removed the requirement; some employers may keep a voluntary form for other reasons.
• Ask agency clients which definition they use, and record submittals so they can be counted under it. An agency that submits candidates is part of the client's applicant flow.
• Re-check in early 2027. The eCFR will catch up after October 26, and OFCCP may publish guidance on the remaining data collection.