The U.S. Department of Labor is taking another major step forward in better protecting federal workers from sex discrimination on the job, putting forth a new proposal that calls for revising and updating workplace requirements on sex discrimination. The aim is to bring these guidelines better in line with the legal and cultural shifts that have occurred since they were initially implemented in 1970.
The proposed rule, to be published in the Federal Register on January 30, seeks to make new additions to existing sex discrimination guidelines by addressing a number of developments that have occurred in the past 35 years, including:
- A Supreme Court ruling that deemed enabling a hostile work environment for specific genders as a type of sex discrimination
- An increased number of pregnant women in the workforce
- The Pregnancy Discrimination Act, which protects pregnant employees from workplace discrimination.
By incorporating these and other demographic and legal changes into the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs' (OFCCP) sex discrimination protections, the new rule would help to alleviate issues of gender pay gaps, sexual harassment, discrimination against gender identities, discrimination against family care giving and employers who do not accommodate pregnant employees.
"Our sex discrimination guidelines are woefully out of date and don't reflect established law or the reality of modern workplaces," Patricia Shiu, director of the OFCCP, said in a press release. Latifa Lyles, director of the Labor Department's Women's Bureau, added that, "A person's gender should never determine whether or not she gets, keeps or advances in a job. The rule we are proposing will protect workers from losing out on job opportunities because of antiquated stereotypes, nonconformity with genders norms or pregnancy."
The public has 60 days, from January 30 to March 31, to comment on the proposal.
If you've suffered discrimination or harassment at work, make an appointment with the free consultation lawyers of The Meyers Law Firm for expert legal counsel on what your next steps should be.