OFCCP Publishes Final Rule Modernizing Sex Discrimination Guidelines

For the first time in more than four decades, OFCCP revised its Sex Discrimination Guidelines prohibiting discrimination by government contractors on the basis of sex (the "final rule"). The final rule applies to employers with Federal contracts or subcontracts totaling $10,000 or more over a 12-month period. The final rule outlines sex-based discriminatory practices that contractors must identify and eliminate. It also clarifies how contractors must take affirmative action to ensure their hiring and employment practices do not adversely affect employees on the basis of sex.

The final rule broadly covers issues of sex discrimination in the modern workplace, essentially bundling together in one rule a collection of legal issues – some settled and some sharply divided – covered by Title VII, the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, the Equal Pay Act and various EEOC and OFCCP pronouncements. Below, we highlight some of the issues raised by the rule and "best practices"