The Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) Talking Points

The Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. ENDA creates express protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people similar to those available under existing federal discrimination laws for other protected classes of workers.

Already nearly 40% of the US population (12 states and over 100 localities) protect lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender workers from discrimination.

Twelve states and over 100 localities protect individuals from workplace discrimination based on their sexual orientation and gender identity. However, coverage is incon sistent across the country, including from state to state, and local ordinances are often under-enforced. A federal law is needed to expressly and uniformly prohibit workplace discrimination throughout the United States.

Nondiscrimination is a best practice in Corporate America.

Corporate America generally opposes discrimination and has enacted policies protecting its lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender employees. More than 150 Fortune 500 companies have policies that include gender identity/expression. Companies have adopted these workplace non-discrimination policies because they are motivated by the bottom line: hiring and retaining the best, most experienced person for the job makes good business sense; employees who do not have to fear discrimination are loyal and productive; and searching for and training replacement employees is expensive.

Which employers are included?

ENDA applies to the same entities covered under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. These include private employers with 15 or more employees, labor unions, employment agencies, and federal, state and local governments, The legislation exempts the Armed Forces, religious institutions, and employers with less than 15 employees.

Gender identity is essential to the bill.

It is critical that the bill cover both sexual orientation and gender identity.  The express inclusion of gender identity is vital because transgender people face pervasive workplace discrimination, and existing federal law has proven inadequate to protect these workers. On this, the LGBT community is speaking in one voice: we must move forward with employment protections that will protect all lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people.