FEDERAL ANTI-DISCRIMINATION STATUTES AND EXECUTIVE ORDERS

Federal employees are protected against discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, age, disability, genetic information, military service (past, present, or future), and against retaliation for participation in EEO activity or opposition to discrimination. The statutory sources include the following: Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964; Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967; Rehabilitation Act of 1973; Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008; the Equal Pay Act of 1963; and Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994.

Executive Orders 11478, 13087, and 13152 provide similar protections against discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, handicap, and age, and add the protected bases of parental status and sexual orientation.

An employee who believes he or she has been subjected to discrimination or retaliation involving a basis prohibited under an EEO statute or one of the above-referenced Executive Orders, must contact his or her servicing EEO office within 45 days of the alleged discrimination if he or she wishes to pursue an EEO complaint.