Contractors required to take proactive approach to providing equal opportunity through trainings, outreach, and other efforts.
LOS ANGELES – 22% of U.S. workers will be covered by the Department of Labor’s announcement today that it will interpret prohibitions on sex discrimination in Executive Order 11246 (EO 11246) to include discrimination based on gender identity and transgender status. As a result, federal contractors must take steps to protect transgender and other workers from gender identity discrimination, including through outreach, recruitment, as well as employee and management development and training.
“This action helps strengthen legal protections against discrimination based on gender identity and transgender status, and is consistent with the Department of Labor’s existing policies and practices,” said Christy Mallory, Senior Counsel at the Williams Institute.
Last year, in the case of Macy v. Holder, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) concluded that discrimination on the basis of gender identity or transgender status violates the prohibition on sex discrimination in Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Sex discrimination complaints against federal contractors filed under EO 11246 are enforced by the Labor Department’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP). The OFCCP has an explicit policy of interpreting EO 11246 in a manner consistent with Title VII, and has followed the EEOC’s regulations and guidance in enforcing the Order.
The Williams Institute published a 2013 analysis of the impact of the Macy decision on the OFCCP.
“The clarity provided by the Department of Labor’s announcement today will help both federal contractors comply with the executive order and the OFCCP with its enforcement efforts,” said Brad Sears, Executive Director of the Williams Institute.
The Labor Department’s new directive is available here.
