The guidance calls on agencies to increase the availability of training programs on gender identity and inclusion. Image: Mark Van Scyoc/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffOPM has updated its guidance on gender identity and inclusion in the federal workplace to “support agency compliance with nondiscrimination laws and executive policies and to foster a welcoming and supportive workplace for all applicants and employees across the federal government by providing a baseline of gender identity inclusion practices.”
The guidance notes that a Biden administration executive order directs federal agencies to fully enforce civil rights and other laws that prohibit discrimination on the basis of gender identity or sexual orientation; a second directs them to “take actions to ensure that all federal employees have their respective gender identities accurately reflected and identified in the workplace.”
“Agencies should revise and implement their policies, practices, and any associated trainings so that they afford a non-discriminatory and inclusive work environment to applicants and employees irrespective of their sex, gender identity, gender expression, or sexual orientation, consistent with current law and executive policy. Agencies also should take steps to implement or increase the availability of training programs on gender identity and inclusion in the federal workplace for employees, managers, and leadership,” the guidance says.
Key principles include that (in its words):
• “All applicants and employees should have control, to the extent possible, over when, with whom, and how much they share about their gender identity or sex characteristics.”
• “Legal name changes related to gender identity are handled in the same way as any other legal name change in the employee’s Official Personnel Folder and other employee records reflecting legal names (e.g., pay accounts and benefits documents).”
• “All applicants and employees should be addressed by the names and pronouns they use to describe themselves . . . The isolated and inadvertent use of an incorrect name or pronoun will generally not constitute unlawful harassment, but, as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has explained, continued intentional use of an incorrect name or pronoun (or both) could, in certain circumstances, contribute to an unlawful hostile work environment.”
• “Agencies should allow access to common and single-user restrooms and other facilities corresponding to an employee’s gender identity. Agencies should not condition this access on an employee having undergone or providing proof of any gender affirming surgeries or other medical procedures.”
• “Any employee’s gender transition should be treated with privacy and confidentiality in the workplace . . . Employees receiving medical treatment as part of their transition may use sick or other leave under applicable regulations and policies, just as with medical treatment for any other reason.”
• “Agencies should review and, as necessary, update relevant policies so that all employees are allowed to dress and present consistent with their gender identity. Employees transitioning in the workplace decide when to start dressing and presenting consistent with their gender identity.”
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