(a) In general. It is unlawful for a contractor to discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of sex. The term sex includes, but is not limited to, pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions; gender identity; transgender status; and sex stereotyping.

(b) Disparate treatment. Unless sex is a bona fide occupational qualification reasonably necessary to the normal operation of a contractor's particular business or enterprise, the contractor may not make any distinction based on sex in recruitment, hiring, firing, promotion, compensation, hours, job assignments, training, benefits, or other terms, conditions, or privileges of employment. Such unlawful sex-based discriminatory practices include, but are not limited to, the following:

(1) Making a distinction between married and unmarried persons that is not applied equally to men and women;

(2) Denying women with children an employment opportunity that is available to men with children;

(3) Treating men and women differently with regard to the availability of flexible work arrangements;

(4) Firing, or otherwise treating adversely, unmarried women, but not unmarried men, who become parents;

(5) Applying different standards in hiring or promoting men and women on the basis of sex;

(6) Steering women into lower-paying or less desirable jobs on the basis of sex;

(7) Imposing any differences in retirement age or other terms, conditions, or privileges of retirement on the basis of sex;

(8) Restricting job classifications on the basis of sex;

(9) Maintaining seniority lines and lists on the basis of sex;

(10) Recruiting or advertising for individuals for certain jobs on the basis of sex;

(11) Distinguishing on the basis of sex in apprenticeship or other formal or informal training programs; in other opportunities such as on-the-job training, networking, mentoring, sponsorship, individual development plans, rotational assignments, and succession planning programs; or in performance appraisals that may provide the basis of subsequent opportunities;

(12) Making any facilities and employment-related activities available only to members of one sex, except that if the contractor provides restrooms, changing rooms, showers, or similar facilities, the contractor must provide same-sex or single-user facilities;

(13) Denying transgender employees access to the restrooms, changing rooms, showers, or similar facilities designated for use by the gender with which they identify; and

(14) Treating employees or applicants adversely because they have received, are receiving, or are planning to receive transition-related medical services designed to facilitate the adoption of a sex or gender other than the individual's designated sex at birth.

(c) Disparate impact. Employment policies or practices that have an adverse impact on the basis of sex, and are not job-related and consistent with business necessity, violate Executive Order 11246, as amended, and this part. Examples of policies or practices that may violate Executive Order 11246 in terms of their disparate impact on the basis of sex include, but are not limited to:

(1) Height and/or weight qualifications that are not necessary to the performance of the job and that negatively impact women substantially more than men;

(2) Strength, agility, or other physical requirements that exceed the actual requirements necessary to perform the job in question and that negatively impact women substantially more than men;

(3) Conditioning entry into an apprenticeship or training program on performance on a written test, interview, or other selection procedure that has an adverse impact on women where the contractor cannot establish the validity of the selection procedure consistent with the Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures, 41 CFR part 60-3; and

(4) Relying on recruitment or promotion methods, such as “word-of-mouth” recruitment or “tap-on-the-shoulder” promotion, that have an adverse impact on women where the contractor cannot establish that they are job-related and consistent with business necessity.