THE RIGHTS OF EMPLOYEES
WHO ARE TRANSGENDER OR
GENDER NONCONFORMING
FACT SHEET
CALIFORNIA LAW PROTECTS
TRANSGENDER AND GENDER
NONCONFORMING PEOPLE FROM
DISCRIMINATION, HARASSMENT,
AND RETALIATION AT WORK. THESE
PROTECTIONS ARE ENFORCED BY THE
CIVIL RIGHTS DEPARTMENT (CRD).
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THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
1. Does California law protect transgender
and gender nonconforming employees from
employment discrimination?
Yes. All employees, job applicants, unpaid
interns, volunteers, and contractors are
protected from discrimination at work when
based on a protected characteristic, such
as their gender identity, gender expression,
sexual orientation, race, or national origin. This
means that private employers with ve or more
employees may not, for example, refuse to hire
or promote someone because they identify as
– or are perceived to identify as – transgender
or non-binary, or because they express their
gender in non-stereotypical ways.
Employment discrimination can occur at any
time during the hiring or employment process. In
addition to refusing to hire or promote someone,
unlawful discrimination includes discharging
an employee, subjecting them to worse working
conditions, or unfairly modifying the terms
of their employment because of their gender
identity or gender expression.
2. Does California law protect transgender
and gender nonconforming employees from
harassment at work?
Yes. All employers are prohibited from
harassing any employee, intern, volunteer, or
contractor because of their gender identity or
gender expression. For example, an employer
can be liable if co-workers create a hostile work
environment – whether in person or virtual –
for an employee who is undergoing a gender
transition. Similarly, an employer can be liable
when customers or other third parties harass
an employee because of their gender identity
or expression, such as intentionally referring
to a gender-nonconforming employee by the
wrong pronouns or name.
3. Does California law protect employees who
complain about discrimination or harassment
in the workplace?
Yes. Employers are prohibited from retaliating
against any employee who asserts their right
under the law to be free from discrimination
or harassment. For example, an employer
commits unlawful retaliation when it responds
to an employee making a discrimination
complaint – to their supervisor, human
resources staff, or CRD – by cutting their shifts.
4. If bathrooms, showers, and locker rooms are
sex-segregated, can employees choose the
one that is most appropriate for them?
Yes. All employees have a right to safe and
appropriate restroom and locker room facilities.
This includes the right to use a restroom
or locker room that corresponds to the
employee’s gender identity, regardless of the
employee’s sex assigned at birth. In addition,
where possible, an employer should provide
an easily accessible, gender-neutral (or “all-
gender”), single user facility for use by any
employee. The use of single stall restrooms
to dress in accordance with their gender
identity and expression. While an employer
may establish a dress code or grooming
policy in accord with business necessity,
all employees must be held to the same
standard, regardless of their gender identity
or expression.
7. Can an employer ask an applicant about
their sex assigned at birth or gender identity
in an interview?
No. Employers may ask non-discriminatory
questions, such as inquiring about an
applicant’s employment history or asking for
professional references. But an interviewer
should not ask questions designed to detect a
person’s gender identity or gender transition
history such as asking about why the person
changed their name. Employers should also
not ask questions about a person’s body or
whether they plan to have surgery.
8. Does California law protect transgender and
gender nonconforming employees from hate
violence?
Yes. Acts or threats of violence against a
person because of their gender identity or
gender expression is forbidden everywhere,
including the workplace. A person targeted
for hate violence can le a claim with CRD,
and may be eligible for civil remedies, such
as money damages and a restraining order.
Also, contact the CA vs. Hate Resource Line
and Network for information and support
for people targeted by hate at stophate@
calcivilrights.ca.gov or 833-8-NO-HATE.
9. Can my employer-provided health insurance
plan exclude gender-afrming care?
No. Under California law, employer-provided
health plans must cover medically necessary
gender-afrming care.
THE RIGHTS OF EMPLOYEES WHO ARE
TRANSGENDER OR GENDER NONCONFORMING
FACT SHEET
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and other facilities should always be a matter of
choice. Employees should never be forced to use
one, as a matter of policy or due to harassment.
5. Does an employee have the right to be
addressed by the name and pronouns that
correspond to their gender identity or gender
expression, even if different from their legal
name and gender?
Yes. Employees have the right to use and be
addressed by the name and pronouns that
correspond with their gender identity or gender
expression. These are sometimes known as
“chosen” or “preferred” names and pronouns.
For example, an employee does not need to have
legally changed their name or birth certicate,
nor have undergone any type of gender
transition (such as surgery), to use a name and/
or pronouns that correspond with their gender
identity or gender expression. An employer may
be legally obligated to use an employee’s legal
name in specic employment records, but when
no legal obligation compels the use of a legal
name, employers and co-workers must respect
an employee’s chosen name and pronouns. For
example, some businesses utilize software for
payroll and other administrative purposes, such
as creating work schedules or generating virtual
proles. While it may be appropriate for the
business to use a transgender employee’s legal
name for payroll purposes when legally required,
refusing or failing to use that person’s chosen
name and pronouns, if different from their legal
name, on a shift schedule, nametag, instant
messaging account, or work ID card could be
harassing or discriminatory. CRD recommends
that employers take care to ensure that each
employee’s chosen name and pronouns are
respected to the greatest extent allowed by law.
6. Does an employee have the right to dress
in a way that corresponds with their gender
identity and gender expression?
Yes. An employer who imposes a dress code
must enforce it in a non-discriminatory manner.
This means that each employee must be allowed
If you have been subjected to discrimination,
harassment, or retaliation at work, please
contact CRD.
TO FILE A COMPLAINT
Civil Rights Department
calcivilrights.ca.gov/complaintprocess
Toll Free: 800.884.1684
TTY: 800.700.2320
Have a disability that requires a reasonable
accommodation? CRD can assist you with your
complaint.
CRD-A07P-ENG / November 2022
THE RIGHTS OF EMPLOYEES WHO ARE
TRANSGENDER OR GENDER NONCONFORMING
FACT SHEET
This guidance is for informational purposes only, does not establish
substantive policy or rights, and does not constitute legal advice.
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COMMON TERMS
Gender expression means a person’s gender-
related appearance or behavior, such as their
mannerisms, clothes, or hairstyle. How someone
expresses their gender may or may not be
stereotypically associated with their gender
identity or the sex they were assigned at birth.
For example, someone who identies as male
may express his gender in stereotypically
feminine ways, such as having long hair,
wearing make-up, or acting “sensitive.”
Gender identity means each person’s internal
understanding of their gender, such as being
male, female, a combination of male and female,
neither male nor female, and/or nonbinary.
A person may have a gender identity different
from the sex the person was assigned at birth.
Gender nonconforming refers to people who
do not follow societal norms or stereotypes
about gender identity or gender expression.
A person of any gender identity can be gender
nonconforming, such as a female-identied
person who wears clothes typically associated
with men and who uses the pronouns “they/
them” and “she/her.”
Gender transition refers to a process that
some people who are transgender or gender
nonconforming go through to afrm their gender
identity. This can, but does not necessarily,
include transitioning socially and/or physically.
A person does not need to complete any
particular step in a gender transition in order
to be protected by the law.
• Social transition is a process of socially
aligning one’s gender expression with the
internal sense of self (e.g., changes in name
and pronoun, bathroom facility usage, dress,
speech, or appearance).
• Physical transition refers to medical
treatments an individual may undergo to
physically align their body with their gender
identity (e.g., hormone therapies or surgical
procedures).
Non-binary is a general term for any gender
identity that falls outside the gender binary of
strictly male or strictly female. California ofcially
recognizes non-binary as a gender.
Sexual orientation refers to a person’s sexual or
romantic attraction to others and may – but does
not necessarily – include identication with terms
like straight, gay, lesbian, bisexual, or pansexual.
Transgender is a general term that refers to a
person whose gender identity differs from the sex
they were assigned at birth, such as someone
who identies as male but whose sex on their
original birth certicate was marked female.
For translations of this guidance, visit:
www.calcivilrights.ca.gov/posters/employment
