BY BTL STAFF
WASHINGTON D.C. — President Obama's Executive Order, signed July 21, 2014, on LGBT Workplace Discrimination went into effect April 8. The executive order prohibits federal contractors and subcontractors from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. LGBT people employed by federal contractors across the country will now receive new legal protections designed to ensure they are judged solely by the quality of their work.
"This is a civil rights victory consistent with our founding principles. It will mean a more dynamic and inclusive workforce that captures the talents of more of our people. It advances the principle that we should be leaving no one on the sidelines, that America is strongest when it fields a full team," U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez wrote.
Federal contractors and subcontractors receive billions of taxpayer dollars to supply goods, provide services and perform construction work for government agencies. Prior workplace discrimination protections included hiring, firing, pay, promotion and other employment practices based on race, color, religion, national origin, disability and status as a protected veteran. This is the first amendment to those protections since 1974.
"The obligation not to discriminate covers every type of new and modified federal contract — from companies that build our highways and manage our IT infrastructure to those that run our cafeterias, produce our military uniforms and stock our supply closets. And applies to every establishment of those contractors and subcontractors — not just the ones directly involved in performing the contract," Perez wrote.
