Until 2018, Iceland possessed no laws prohibiting employment discrimination on any grounds. A committee that Welfare Minister Eygló Harðardóttir founded in 2014 handed in its conclusions in November 2016, advising the Parliament to pass a general discrimination law. Such a law would include protections on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity and sex characteristics. On 11 June 2018, the Parliament approved a law banning employment discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression and sex characteristics, among others. The law, known as the "Law on Equal Treatment in the Workplace" (), took effect on 1 September 2018.