Civil servants will be investigated and punished if they 'misgender' trans colleagues under new guidance

By SAM MERRIMAN, POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT Published: 22:00, 22 July 2026 | Updated: 22:20, 22 July 2026 Civil servants will be investigated and sanctioned if they do not call transgender colleagues by their preferred name or gender under new guidance. Trans public sector workers could be given paid time off for medical appointments related to their transition - even if they are otherwise fit to work. And the new Whitehall guidance would allow trans civil servants to change their name and gender in computer systems as soon as they transition. The Government has shared the 'model' policy with all departments. It states civil servants can be investigated for misconduct if they 'deadname' or 'misgender' a trans colleague. The 29-page document, drawn up by the Cabinet Office and marked 'official sensitive', says that officials can face formal sanction if they 'deny, mock or invalidate a person's trans identity'. On Wednesday, shadow equalities minister Claire Coutinho warned that public bodies 'routinely weaponise fear of causing offence to sanction women who have done nothing wrong'. 'People should be polite and courteous, but no one should be punished for protecting their legal rights to single-sex spaces or for acknowledging that biological sex is real,' she added. The policy does tell trans civil servants that they 'may not use facilities of your affirmed gender which are designated as single-sex' following last year's Supreme Court ruling on biological sex. Civil servants will be investigated and sanctioned if they do not call transgender colleagues by their preferred name or gender under new guidance (stock image)  Tory shadow equalities minister Claire Coutinho warned that public bodies 'routinely weaponise fear of causing offence to sanction women who have done nothing wrong' Trans officials must instead use unisex facilities or toilets that match their biological sex. The guidance says this is a 'matter for the Department to manage and cannot be decided by you alone'. A copy of the policy, leaked to Metro, adds: 'You will need to discuss the options and agree on the most suitable arrangement with your line manager.' The new model 'Policy and Guidance: Supporting Trans and Non-binary Employees' was issued to Whitehall departments in May to use as a template for how trans civil servants should be treated at work. But the Cabinet Office has so far refused to publish the document. The guidance accepts that misgendering and deadnaming – calling a trans person by their birth name – can 'happen accidentally'. But civil servants are warned: 'Deliberate deadnaming or misgendering to deny, mock or invalidate a person's trans identity is unacceptable and should be investigated as potential misconduct.' The policy does acknowledge that that 'some employees do not believe in trans or gender identities' and that this is protected under the Equality Act 'if this is a philosophical belief'. But it adds that this does not mean 'that it is acceptable to indiscriminately and gratuitously refer to a trans person in terms other than they would wish'. Maya Forstater, chief executive of Sex Matters, welcomed the policy on protecting single-sex facilities but warned it is still 'shockingly biased in what it says about pronouns and 'misgendering''. She added that 'most people don't think men can be women or vice versa' and to say that this could lead to a formal sanction is 'unjustified and discriminatory'. But trans rights groups have attacked the civil service guidance as 'unworkable' and 'discriminatory' and said it will 'cause immense harm to trans employees'.