Equality in the workplace: is Corporate America more GLBT-friendly than ever?

Companies are using the index the way the Human Rights Campaign Foundation (HRC) had intended: as a road map to equal treatment for GLBT Americans in the workplace and marketplace. The index has also had a profound impact on many workplaces and has spurred significant change among companies that initially had been slow to adopt more equitable policies. This year’s index saw an unprecedented 142 companies score 100 on the index, compared to the 13 companies in its first year 2002. But what are the index’s origins?

The CEI is based on the Equality Project’s Equality Principles, which were derived in 1992 and have been endorsed by leading GLBT advocacy groups, including the HRC. The index actively surveys Fortune 1000, Forbes’ largest 200 private employers and the American lawyer top 100 law firms, according to Eric Bloem, associate director for the Workplace Project at HRC. “We’re expanding our universe as we have the ability to do so, but the companies we’ve been able to spend more time with and focus on are the Fortune companies.”

Does he think that since its inception, the CEI has played a part in encouraging enterprises to improve their workplace equality? “Without a doubt. The numbers speak for themselves on that. When we started the corporate equality index back in 2002 we had 13 companies that scored a 100 on the index. This past year we had 142 that score 100. Corporations are using their CEI as a compass to help guide their decision-making and help them focus their efforts on what are the most important things they can do to ensure equality in their workplaces.”

It certainly seems to have worked: the number of companies with non-discrimination policies that include sexual orientation and gender identity, or provide domestic partner benefits is growing year after year. The competitive nature of these firms seems to have spurred a race to excellence in equality in the workplace, which is great news for those campaigning for workplace equality: ”The CEI works by putting into print with a scoring device what things companies are doing well, versus what things companies need to work on.” Companies are becoming increasingly aware that by scoring 100 they put themselves at a competitive advantage in the marketplace.

And what kind of feedback has the HRC had about the CEI? “Nothing but great things,” confirms Bloem. “It lays out a map for what companies should be focusing on. It gives guidance in making decisions for what’s best for their GLBT employees – and therefore their company. We don’t simply request that companies need to have sexual orientation and gender identity in their nondiscrimination policy, we also give them the resources to do it. 2006 was the first year that the majority of Fortune 500 companies offered domestic partner benefits. That’s an important factor: if the majority of the most successful companies in the US have domestic partner benefits, it creates a business case for other companies begin offering equal benefits for GLBT employees and their partners.”

For more information or to participate in the Corporate Equality Index please visit www.hrc.org/cei