KNOW YOUR RIGHTS

Sex Discrimination

OFCCP Protects You from 

Discrimination Based on Sex

The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs 

(OFCCP) enforces Executive Order 11246, as amended, 

which prohibits federal contractors and subcontractors from 

discriminating against employees and job applicants based 

on their sex.

1. What is discrimination based on sex?

Employment discrimination generally exists where an 

employer treats you, as an employee or applicant less 

favorably because of your sex. Discrimination may 

also exist where an employer’s seemingly fair policies 

or procedures have a significant negative impact on 

employees or job applicants because of their sex.

2. Can my employer pay me differently or 

provide me different fringe benefits based 

on my sex?

No. Contractors may not pay you differently nor can 

they provide you different fringe benefits based on 

your sex. For instance, they cannot deny opportunities 

for overtime work, training, or higher-paying salaries 

or positions because of your sex. Fringe benefits 

include medical, hospital, accident, life insurance, and 

retirement benefits; profit- sharing and bonus plans; 

leave; and other terms, conditions, and privileges of 

employment.

3. May contractors treat employees differently 

based on sex stereotypes?

No. Contractors may not use stereotypes to treat you 

unfairly because you fail to comply with expectations 

about how women or men should look or act or what 

kinds of jobs men or women should do.

4. Are caregivers protected from discrimination 

based on sex?

Yes. Contractors may not treat you differently 

based on stereotypical assumptions about caregiving 

responsibilities. For example, contractors may not deny 

mothers an employment opportunity that is available to 

fathers or deny fathers a flexible work arrangement that 

is available to mothers.

5. Does my employer have to provide 

me equal access to jobs and 

development opportunities?

Yes. Contractors must provide you equal 

access to jobs and development opportunities. 

A contractor may not set requirements that are 

based on sex unless the contractor can show 

that the requirements can be done only by men 

or only by women. Additionally, a contractor 

may not set requirements that adversely affect 

applicants because of their sex unless those 

requirements are job-related and necessary. 

Contractors may not deny you training, work 

assignments, or other development opportunities 

that may lead to advancement to higher-paying 

positions on the basis of sex.

6. Does OFCCP protect me from sexual 

harassment by contractors?

Yes. Sexual harassment is a form of sex 

discrimination. OFCCP protects you from 

unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual 

favors, offensive remarks about a person’s sex, and 

other unwanted verbal or physical conduct based on 

sex. These behaviors are prohibited when they are 

made as a term or condition of your employment; 

when submitting to such behaviors, or saying no to 

them is used as the basis for employment decisions; or 

when such conduct unreasonably interferes with your 

work performance or creates an intimidating, hostile, 

or offensive working environment.

7. How does OFCCP protect pregnant women 

and new mothers?

Applicants to and employees of federal contractors are 

protected from discrimination, including loss of jobs, 

wages, and health-care coverage, because of pregnancy, 

childbirth, or related medical conditions. Moreover, 

contractors must provide workplace accommodations 

because of pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical 

conditions in certain circumstances when those 

contractors provide comparable accommodations to other 

workers, such as people with disabilities or work-related 

injuries.

200 CONSTITUTION AVENUE NW | WASHINGTON, DC 20210 | tel: 1-800-397-6251 | TTY: 1-877-889-5627 | www.dol.gov/ofccp
8. How are transgender workers protected by 

OFCCP? 

Contractors are prohibited from discriminating on the basis 

of gender identity. Contractors must allow employees and 

applicants to use bathrooms, changing rooms, showers, 

and similar facilities consistent with the gender with 

which they identify. Additionally, contractor-provided 

health-care benefit plans may not deny or limit health-care 

coverage based on gender identity or transgender status.

9. Who does OFCCP protect? 

OFCCP protects the rights of employees and job 

applicants of companies doing business with the Federal 

Government. This includes employees at banks, 

information technology firms, meat packing plants, 

retail stores, manufacturing plants, accounting firms, and 

construction companies, among others.

10. What do I do if I believe my employer 

discriminated against me because of my sex? 

If you think you have been discriminated against in 

employment, or in applying for employment, you can file 

a complaint with OFCCP. You do not need to know with 

certainty that your employer is a federal contractor or 

subcontractor in order to file a complaint.

11. How do I file a complaint with OFCCP?

You may file a discrimination complaint by:

• Completing and submitting a form online through 

OFCCP’s Web site; 

• Completing a form in person at an OFCCP office; or 

• Mailing, e-mailing, or faxing a completed form to the 

OFCCP regional office that covers the location where 

the alleged discrimination occurred.

The form is available online at http://www.dol.gov/ofccp/

regs/compliance/pdf/pdfstart.htm and in paper format at 

all OFCCP offices. To find the office nearest you, visit the 

online listing of OFCCP offices at http://www.dol.gov/

ofccp/contacts/ofnation2.htm. 

You must remember to sign your completed complaint 

form. If you fail to do so, OFCCP will still take your 

complaint but an OFCCP investigator will ask you to 

sign the form during a follow-up interview. Complaints 

alleging discrimination based on race, color, religion, 

sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or national origin 

must be filed within 180 days from the date of the alleged 

discrimination, unless the time for filing is extended for good 

cause. The same 180-day time frame applies to complaints 

alleging discrimination for discussing, disclosing, or inquiring 

about pay.

12. Can my employer fire, demote, or treat me less 

favorably because I filed a complaint?

No. It is illegal for your employer to retaliate against you for 

filing a complaint or participating in an investigation. OFCCP’s 

regulations protect you from harassment, intimidation, threats, 

coercion, or retaliation for asserting your rights. 

13. Can I file a discrimination complaint with both 

OFCCP and the Equal Employment Opportunity 

Commission (EEOC)?

Yes. If you file with both OFCCP and EEOC, your complaint 

will be investigated by only one of these agencies. 

OFCCP generally retains and investigates complaints filed 

against federal contractors based on an applicant or employee’s 

sexual orientation or gender identity. OFCCP also generally 

keeps complaints where there appears to be a pattern of 

discrimination that affects a group of employees or applicants, 

and those that allege discrimination based on disability; 

protected veteran status; or discussing, disclosing, or inquiring 

about pay.

14. What will happen if there is a finding that I was a 

victim of employment discrimination? 

You may be entitled to a remedy that places you in the 

position you would have been in if the discrimination had 

never happened. You may be entitled to be hired, promoted, 

reinstated, or reassigned. You may also be entitled to receive 

back pay, front pay, a pay raise or some combination of 

these remedies. In addition, if OFCCP finds that the federal 

contractor or subcontractor discriminated, OFCCP could seek to 

have the company debarred or removed from consideration for 

future federal contracts or have the company’s current contracts 

cancelled.

For more information:

the u.s. department of labor

Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs

200 Constitution Avenue, NW

Washington, D.C. 20210

1-800-397-6251

TTY: 1-877-889-5627

www.dol.gov/ofccp

Please note that this fact sheet provides general information. It is not 

intended to substitute for the actual law and regulations regarding the program 

described herein.

200 CONSTITUTION AVENUE NW | WASHINGTON, DC 20210 | tel: 1-800-397-6251 | TTY: 1-877-889-5627 | www.dol.gov/ofccp Revised September 2016