HRC Back Story

Today the HRC Foundation releases its new 2008 Corporate Equality Index, our annual guide on how companies in corporate America are measuring up in their industries and across the business spectrum in their policies toward their gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender employees. The increase in the number of companies that score a 100% on the Index each year (the 2008 CEI reports that 195 companies earned a perfect score - up from 138 last year) provides strong evidence that the business community recognizes that it just makes smart sense for them to make their workplaces welcoming and supportive of their GLBT workers.

Daryl Herrschaft, our workplace project director, says this year's record number of companies scoring 100% can be significantly attributed to one, key motivating factor - competition:

Today, the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, the educational arm of HRC, released our annual Corporate Equality Index showing continued strong growth in companies address GLBT workplace fairness. An unprecedented 195 companies received the top score of 100 percent. Collectively, these companies employ more than 8 million workers and that validates the work of the HRC Foundation in “changing the air” in which GLBT issues are discussed. Because, even our straight colleagues at these companies get a message from their leadership everyday that GLBT Americans should be given equal treatment and equal respect at work.

But, the Corporate Equality Index does more than just track the changes that are occurring in corporate America, along with the work of GLBT employees, it drives the issue forward. It’s about one word: competition. Successfully vying for the best and brightest talent and the economic clout of GLBT consumers means one thing to these fair-minded companies: implement the policies on the Corporate Equality Index and reach the coveted 100 percent. That means providing equal benefits to domestic partners and transgender employees, banning anti-GLBT discrimination and giving back to GLBT community organizations.

Publishing the Corporate Equality Index involves a lot more than administering a survey and reporting the results. The professional staff of the HRC Foundation Workplace Project use every interaction with companies as an advocacy opportunity. The results have been impressive. As a sponsor of HRC’s Nashville Dinner, we worked closely with Bridgestone all year and helped them improve their score from 45 to 80. We met extensively with Starbucks regarding protections for transgender employees leading the company to add gender identity to its non-discrimination policy and achieve 100 percent for the first time this year. And for all of the companies that participate we provide: model policies such as gender transition guidelines; scholarly papers on benefits equivalency from family leave to pensions and beyond; and, real-time information on legal development that impact GLBT workers.

Enjoy the report. Use it to find that new job or decide which products to buy. It is chock full of information on many companies that striving toward equality, and, yes, even the ones that don’t.