U.S. Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission
- Home
- About EEOC
- Overview
- The Commission & the General Counsel
- Meetings of the Commission
- Open Government
- Newsroom
- Laws, Regulations, Guidance & MOUs
- Budget & Performance
- Enforcement & Litigation
- Initiatives
- Task Forces
- Interagency Programs
- Publications
- Statistics
- Outreach & Education
- Legislative Affairs
- FOIA & Privacy Act
- Doing Business with EEOC
- Jobs & Internships
- EEOC History
- Office of Inspector General
- Employees & Applicants
- Employers / Small Business
- Federal Agencies
- Overview
- Federal Employees & Applicants
- Federal EEO Coordination
- Federal Agency EEO Directors
- Laws, Regulations, Guidance & MOUs
- Management Directives & Federal Sector Guidance
- Federal Sector Alternative Dispute Resolution
- Federal Sector Reports
- Appellate Decisions
- Digest of EEO Law
- Federal Sector EEO Portal (FedSEP)
- Form 462 Reporting
- Federal Training & Outreach
- Contact Us
Employer Coverage
15 or more employees
Time Limits
180 days to file a charge
(may be extended by state laws)
Federal employees have 45 days to contact an EEO Counselor
For more information, see:
See also:
- Equal Pay and Compensation Discrimination
- Pregnancy Discrimination
- Sexual Harassment
- Employer Best Practices for Workers with Caregiving Responsibilities
- Break Time for Nursing Mothers under the FLSA (U.S. Dept of Labor, Wage and Hour Division)
- Questions and Answers: The Application of Title VII and the ADA to Applicants or Employees Who Experience Domestic or
Dating Violence, Sexual Assault, or Stalking
Sex-Based Discrimination
Sex discrimination involves treating someone (an applicant or employee) unfavorably because of that person's sex.
Discrimination against an individual because of gender identity, including transgender status, or because of sexual orientation is discrimination because of sex in violation of Title VII. For more information about LGBT-related sex discrimination claims, for more information see http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/newsroom/wysk/enforcement_protections_lgbt_workers.cfm.
Sex Discrimination & Work Situations
The law forbids discrimination when it comes to any aspect of employment, including hiring, firing, pay, job assignments, promotions, layoff, training, fringe benefits, and any other term or condition of employment.
Sex Discrimination Harassment
It is unlawful to harass a person because of that person's sex. Harassment can include "sexual harassment" or unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical harassment of a sexual nature. Harassment does not have to be of a sexual nature, however, and can include offensive remarks about a person's sex. For example, it is illegal to harass a woman by making offensive comments about women in general.
Both victim and the harasser can be either a woman or a man, and the victim and harasser can be the same sex.
Although the law doesn't prohibit simple teasing, offhand comments, or isolated incidents that are not very serious, harassment is illegal when it is so frequent or severe that it creates a hostile or offensive work environment or when it results in an adverse employment decision (such as the victim being fired or demoted).
The harasser can be the victim's supervisor, a supervisor in another area, a co-worker, or someone who is not an employee of the employer, such as a client or customer.
Sex Discrimination & Employment Policies/Practices
An employment policy or practice that applies to everyone, regardless of sex, can be illegal if it has a negative impact on the employment of people of a certain sex and is not job-related or necessary to the operation of the business.
