Report

Corporate Equality Index 2021

Rating Workplaces on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Equality

Human Rights Campaign Foundation

Corporate Equality Index 2021

Message from the HRC Foundation President

OVER ITS 19-YEAR HISTORY, THE HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN’S Corporate Equality Index (CEI) has been the driving force for the adoption of equitable workplace policies, practices and benefits for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people in the United States and beyond.

Our participating companies know that building an LGBTQ-inclusive workplace is not just the right thing to do — it is also the best business decision — allowing companies to attract, retain and engage top talent. And their commitment to building inclusion has only strengthened over the past year, with a record-breaking number of corporations achieving top marks. Many of these companies have also continued their crucial support of legislation such as the Equality Act that would protect and empower their LGBTQ employees and customers across all areas of life. In the face of grave and unprecedented challenges over the past year, the businesses featured in the CEI made LGBTQ equality a priority.

From the previously unimaginable impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, to a long overdue reckoning with racial injustice, 2020 was truly a year like none other. Business leaders across the country were called upon to face these challenges head on. Companies that have long invested in diversity & inclusion efforts were forced to take stock of their progress; and, like most institutions, many found opportunity to deepen their commitment to advance equity for all.

New and necessary efforts are underway in recruiting, professional development, training and community engagement to advance equity for employees of color, particularly those who are Black and Latinx, across the Fortune 500 and beyond. Alongside these efforts, companies are bringing greater recognition to the challenges of those living at the intersections of multiple marginalized identities. These are important steps, but they are only the beginning.

As we recognize the progress that has been made, two key questions for business leaders are: what will you do to define or better define the values of your businesses and what will you do to advance the lived experience of justice and equity for workers of marginalized identities in the coming year and beyond?

In other words, diversity and inclusion policies and practices advanced through tools like the CEI are critical, but meaningful change requires more. It requires breathing life into these policies and practices in real and tangible ways.

At the Human Rights Campaign, we stand ready to support you in addressing these questions and more. Together, we will continue to advance inclusion, equity and belonging for everyone.

Alphonso David , President , Human Rights Campaign Foundation

Executive Summary


Corporate Equality Index 2021

IN THIS 19TH EDITION OF THE HUMAN RUGHTS Campaign Foundation’s Corporate Equality Index, a record-breaking 767 businesses met all the criteria to earn a 100 percent rating and the designation of being a “Best Place to Work for LGBTQ Equality.” Top-rated CEI employers come from nearly every industry and region of the United States. To earn top ratings, employers took concrete steps to establish and implement comprehensive policies, benefits and practices that ensure greater equity for LGBTQ workers and their families. The CEI rating criteria have four key pillars:

  • Nondiscrimination policies across business entities;
  • Equitable benefits for LGBTQ workers and their families;
  • Supporting an inclusive culture; and,
  • Corporate social responsibility.

Since 2002, the Human Rights Campaign Foundation has published the CEI report based largely on the annual CEI survey administered to hundreds of major global employers. The first Index in 2002 had just 13 top-rated companies.

Companies rated in the CEI include Fortune magazine’s 500 largest publicly traded businesses (Fortune 500), American Lawyer magazine’s top 200 revenue-grossing law firms (AmLaw 200) and hundreds of publicly and privately held mid- to large-sized businesses.

The CEI helps guide the wide-scale adoption of LGBTQspecific practices and language within existing business structures. For example, where businesses enumerate federally protected categories of workers in their nondiscrimination policies (e.g. based on race, religion, disability, etc.), the HRC Foundation evaluates them on the inclusion of “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” protections. In terms of benefits, the HRC Foundation evaluates employers on the provision of health insurance coverage for same- and different-sex spouses and partners.

In addition, the HRC Foundation assesses the availability of routine, chronic care and transition-related medical coverage for transgender employees and dependents. Where major businesses regularly provide education, training and accountability measures on diversity and inclusion in the workplace, the HRC Foundation seeks to ensure these systems include the LGBTQ workforce. Lastly, major businesses have a range of engagement programs for their target markets and the communities in which they operate such as advertising, public policy engagement, supplier diversity, philanthropy, and sponsorship. We seek the inclusion of the LGBTQ community in these external engagement efforts.

By using the CEI criteria as a guide, businesses can help ensure that their existing policy and benefits infrastructure is inclusive of LGBTQ workers and their families, resulting in greater recruitment and retention of a talented, diverse workforce. The CEI serves as a roadmap to LGBTQ inclusive policies and practices, but it cannot provide a holistic assessment of the unique workplace cultures and individual experiences that characterize different employers. A CEI rating is one key evaluation metric among others in assessing the LGBTQ inclusiveness of any employer or provider of goods or services.

In addition to the ongoing commitment the many prior participants, the 2021 CEI shows significant growth in the number of newly participating businesses. This year’s report contains over 80 new businesses from over 20 industries that opted into the survey.

The following report is reflective of verified data submitted to the HRC Foundation as well as independent research on non-responding businesses. Wherever credit can be verified, all ranked businesses will receive it, irrespective of their participation in the CEI survey.

To date, the HRC Foundation has worked with thousands of businesses to promote workplace equality for LGBTQ workers. The 767 top-rated CEI employers:

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Key Findings

Unwavering Commitment: Record Number of Top Scoring Companies

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Despite the COVID-19 global health pandemic and its corresponding economic pressures, a record-breaking 767 businesses earned 100 percent on the 2021 CEI and the designation of being one of the “Best Places to Work for LGBTQ Equality.”

This year’s CEI reflects growth across every measurement category, from the adoption of inclusive nondiscrimination policies to equitable benefits to efforts to engage the LGBTQ community.

Transgender Inclusion in the Workplace: Accelerating Progress

The most considerable progress measured over the 19 year history of the CEI and continuing in 2021 has been the wide-scale adoption of transgender-inclusive initiatives across businesses.

A full 94 percent of the Fortune 500 – including both companies that participate in the CEI survey and those that do not — have gender identity protections enumerated in their nondiscrimination policies (up from 3 percent in 2002) and 99 percent of the entire CEI universe of businesses offer explicit gender identity nondiscrimination protections (up from 5 percent in 2002).

Driving a sea change in the adoption of nondiscrimination policies including “gender identity”

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71 percent of the Fortune 500 and over 91 percent of all CEI-rated businesses offer transgender-inclusive health insurance coverage, up from 0 in 2002 and 22 times as many businesses as twelve years ago. 97 new employers offer this coverage according to the 2021 report.

The number of CEI participating companies who offer transgender-inclusive health insurance coverage, has increased 22 times since 2009

Over six hundred and twenty major businesses have adopted gender transition guidelines to establish best practices in transgender inclusion for managers and teams.

Equality at the Fortune-Ranked Companies

233 OF THE FORTUNE 500-RANKED BUSINESSES achieved a 100 percent rating (compared to 214 last year), with 14 of the top 20 Fortune-ranked businesses at this top score. 96 percent of the Fortune 500 include “sexual orientation” in their nondiscrimination policies and 94 percent include “gender identity.” Over two-thirds of Fortune 500 companies offer transgender-inclusive healthcare benefits.

A record 366 of Fortune 500 businesses have official CEI ratings based on submitted surveys (as compared to 359 last year), with an average rating of 76 compared to an average of 71 last year. The Fortune 1000 list of the largest publicly traded companies was invited to take part in the Corporate Equality Index survey for the tenth year in a row.

Businesses' Commitment to LGBTQ Employees

All Fortune 500 Fortune 500 Participants Fortune 500 Non-Responders
Sexual Orientation in U.S. Nondiscrimination Policy 96% 100% 81%
Gender Identity in U.S. Nondiscrimination Policy 94% 100% 73%
Domestic Partner Benefits 57% 75% 0%
Transgender-Inclusive Benefits 71% 93% 0%
Organizational LGBTQ Competency 71% 92% 0%
Public Commitment to the LGBTQ Community 70% 92% 0%
Average 2021 CEI Score 76% 92% 26%

14 of the Top 20 Fortune-Ranked Companies Received 100% Ratings

Fortune 1000 2021 CEI Score
Walmart Inc. 1 100
Exxon Mobil Corp. 2 85
Apple Inc. 3 100
Berkshire Hathaway 4 20
Amazon.com Inc. 5 100
UnitedHealth Group Inc. 6 100
McKesson Corp. 7 100
CVS Health Corp. 8 90
AT&T Inc. 9 100
AmerisourceBergen Corp. 10 100
Chevron Corp. 11 100
Ford Motor Co. 12 80
General Motors Co. 13 90
Costco Wholesale Corp. 14 60
Google Inc. 15 100
Cardinal Health Inc. 16 100
Walgreen Co. 17 100
JPMorgan Chase & Co. 18 100
Verizon Communications Inc. 19 100
The Kroger Co. 20 100

Accelerating Global Equality

The business case for equality knows no borders

OVER THE NEARLY 20 YEAR HISTORY OF THE CORPORATE EQUALITY INDEX, ONE thing is patently clear: equality is good business. Being an LGBTQ-inclusive1 employer is good for recruitment, retention, engagement and - ultimately - the bottom line. What began as largely U.S. and European efforts to create LGBTQ-inclusive workplaces is now a much larger conversation among international stakeholders. In a global marketplace, equality knows no borders.

Working hand-in-hand with businesses, HRC elevated the case that inclusion efforts could not stop at any one border. Employee mobility alone necessitates that LGBTQ employees have confidence that they are valued and protected members of the workforce wherever they are assigned. As multinational companies adopted inclusive policies and practices in the U.S. and elsewhere, HRC encouraged them to consider how this impacted the workforce in countries less friendly - both in terms of the law and the culture - to LGBTQ people. In 2016, the Corporate Equality Index criteria were expanded to require that companies with global operations extend their nondiscrimination policies across all their operations. This change helped drive wider adoption of nondiscrimination policies that include sexual orientation and gender identity protections. In 2016, 54% of CEI-rated companies had global operations and 95 percent of those extended their LGBTQ-inclusive nondiscrimination policies globally. With the 2021 CEI, 57 percent of rated companies have global operations and 99 percent extend those protections globally.

And the progress does not stop with nondiscrimination policies. Companies continue to double down on their global LGBTQ inclusion efforts through the expansion of equitable benefits and inclusive practices. Globally, companies are adopting critical benefits such as domestic partner recognition and transgender-inclusive healthcare benefits and deepening employee engagement efforts such as the expansion of employee resource groups for LGBTQ workers and their allies. While the CEI criteria do not currently assess these efforts, the CEI survey does collect information on global efforts to provide domestic partner benefits and transgender-inclusive benefits, support for global chapters of employee resource groups, and whether companies engage externally with LGBTQ communities outside the U.S.

Across all categories, a majority of companies report extending these benefits and inclusive practices beyond U.S. borders.

1 At HRC we use the acronym “LGBTQ” for the greater lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer communities. We recognize this acronym is U.S.-centric and that communities around the world recognize different identities and acronyms. When working in different communities, we adjust our language to reflect local customs (i.e., our Mexico- and Chile-based workplace inclusion programs use LGBT rather than LGBTQ).

Spotlight: HRC's Equidad Programs

THANKS TO HRC’S WORK WITH COMPANIES in the U.S., hundreds of thousands of LGBTQ workers and their families benefit from inclusive workplace policies, practices and benefits. Following the unprecedented success of the CEI, with many U.S.-based multinationals eager to replicate practices across their global footprint, the HRC Foundation saw an opportunity to expand its work with the business community in the Americas.

With the CEI as a blueprint, HRC established a formal program aimed to grow LGBTQ-inclusive practices and policies across workplaces in Mexico. After years of working with corporate partners, civil society organizations and other stakeholders, including embassies and the American Chamber of Commerce, the HRC Foundation partnered with ADIL (Alianza por la Diversidad e Inclusión Laboral) to officially launch the HRC Equidad MX: Global Workplace Equality Program in 2016. Since its inception, the pioneering program — modeled after HRC’s CEI — has experienced substantial growth in promoting LGBT-inclusive workplaces throughout the country.

The groundbreaking success of HRC Equidad MX is reflected in the increasing number of companies participating in the survey and achieving top ratings for LGBTQ workplace equality — for 2021, more than 200 employers earned top ratings

and the HRC Foundation’s designation of “Best Places to Work for LGBT Equality” or “Mejores Lugares para Trabajar LGBT” in the 2021 HRC Equidad MX report. This represents a robust 77 percent increase in top-rated employers over the prior year and an incredible 562 percent increase since the program’s inaugural report in 2018.

Next, the HRC Foundation expanded its LGBTQ workplace inclusion efforts to South America by partnering with Fundación Iguales, Chile’s largest LGBTQ advocacy group, to promote LGBT inclusive policies and protections among Chilean businesses and corporations through HRC Equidad CL. Launched in 2018, the Chilean-based program assessed more than 30 companies in its inaugural 2019 report and 15 of them received the HRC Foundation’s designation of “Mejores Lugares para Trabajar LGBT.” For the latest report in 2020 the program grew by 103 percent, rating a total of 63 companies with 20 earning top marks. The 2021 Equidad CL report will be released later this year.

Through the CEI, Equidad MX and Equidad CL programs, the HRC Foundation has established guidelines to implement LGBTQ-inclusive policies, best practices and benefits across national and international corporations, impacting more than 39 million employees worldwide. Learn more at hrc.im/GlobalWorkplacePrograms.

Triple Winners

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The following 12 companies have the distinction of earning top scores on all three of HRC's Corporate Equality measures: the Corporate Equality Index, Equidad MX and Equidad CL:

  • Accenture
  • BASF
  • Boston Consulting Group
  • Deloitte
  • IBM
  • JPMorgan Chase & Co.
  • McKinsey & Co.
  • P&G
  • SAP
  • Sodexo
  • Uber
  • Walmart

Double Winners - Recognizing Growing Participation in Mexico

In addition to the triple winners, the following 68 companies earned top marks on both the Corporate Equality Index and Equidad MX:

  • 3M
  • Airbnb
  • Amazon
  • American Airlines
  • American Express Company
  • Aon
  • AstraZeneca
  • AT&T
  • Bain & Company
  • Baker & McKenzie
  • Becton, Dickinson and Co.
  • Best Buy
  • Brown-Forman Corp.
  • Capgemini
  • Cargill
  • CBRE
  • Cisco Systems
  • Citigroup
  • The Coca-Cola Co.
  • Corteva Agriscience
  • Cummins
  • Cushman & Wakefield
  • Dell Techologies
  • Diageo
  • Dow
  • Eaton Corp.
    EY
  • Facebook
  • Fleishman-Hillard
  • Google
  • Greenberg Traurig
  • Here Technologies
  • Herman Miller
  • HSBC
  • Hyatt Hotels Corp.
  • Intel
  • Johnson & Johnson
  • Kearney
  • Kellogg Co.
  • Lexmark International
  • ManpowerGroup
  • Marriott International Inc.
  • Mars Inc.
  • Mastercard
  • MetLife
  • Microsoft
  • Nielsen
  • Nike
  • Novartis
  • Ogilvy & Mather
  • Omnicom Group
  • Oracle
  • PayPal
  • PepsiCo
  • Pernod Ricard
  • Pfizer
  • PwC
  • Salesforce
  • Sanofi
  • Sephora
  • Shell
  • Siemens Corp.
  • Steelcase
  • TE Connectivity
  • Under Armour
  • Unilever
  • Warner Music

Findings


THE CORPORATE EQUALITY INDEX 2021 ASKED PARTICIPANTS a series of questions about LGBTQ-inclusive policies, practices and benefits. Those questions work to assess three categories of criteria, which are outlined in more detail in the Scoring Criteria section. Responses to some individual questions are reported in aggregate on the following pages to indicate national trends and facilitate benchmarking. Individual company scores based on the CEI criteria can be found online at www.hrc.org/cei/search.

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Criteria 1: Workforce Protections

  • Include sexual orientation
  • Include gender identity

Criteria 2: Inclusive Benefits

  • Spousal medical and other benefits
  • Domestic partner medical and other benefits
  • Transgender-inclusive health insurance

Criteria 3: Supporting an Inclusive Culture & Corporate Social Responsibility

  • Internal education and training best practices
  • LGBTQ employee resource group or diversity council
  • Outreach or engagement with LGBTQ community
  • Corporate social responsibility
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Criteria 1: Workforce Protections

THE WORKFORCE PROTECTIONS CRITERIA OF THE CEI CALL FOR A WRITTEN employment nondiscrimination policy that includes both “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” across all operations. For companies with operations outside of the U.S., the policy must be extended across the global workforce. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people continue to face discrimination in employment because of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity, creating a need for explicit nondiscrimination policies.

of CEI participants (1,142 of 1,142 respondents) documented that they include “sexual orientation” in their employment nondiscrimination policy.

of CEI participants (1,139 of 1,142 respondents) documented that they include “gender identity” in their employment nondiscrimination policy.

Clearly enumerated nondiscrimination protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity are essential to LGBTQ workforce equity and inclusion. The policies help to ensure:

  • Equal opportunity for all employees;
  • Diverse talent acquisition and retention for broader economic growth; and,
  • Keeping the employer apace with changing legal and public opinion landscapes.

Furthermore, these policies represent minimal upfront costs and rates of litigation upon implementation are consistent with other protected classes.


A Changing Landscape: Nineteen Years of Driving Adoption of Inclusive Policies

The U.S. Supreme Court Affirms LGBTQ Nondiscrimination Protections in Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia

ON JUNE 15, 2020, THE SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED States issued a 6-3 decision confirming that discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity are forms of “sex” discrimination and therefore are prohibited under the federal employment nondiscrimination law Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This landmark decision stemmed from three cases: Altitude Express Inc. v. Zarda; Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia; and R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Homes Inc. v. Equal Employment and Opportunity Commission. The first two cases concerned gay men who were fired because of their sexual orientation, and the third, a transgender woman (Aimee Stephens) who was fired because of her gender identity. The Supreme Court consolidated these cases - now known as Bostock v. Clayton County - and issued a single opinion in which it held that “an employer who fires an individual merely for being gay or transgender violates Title VII.” The decision is huge news for the LGBTQ community and has implications that will eventually reach civil rights laws forbidding discrimination in education, health care, housing and many more areas of law. It is important to note that while Bostock brings meaningful protections to many LGBTQ people, Title VII applies only to employers with 15 or more employees, leaving many LGBTQ workers without these critical protections.

The Bostock Decision & the CEI

While Bostock explains that discrimination on the basis of sex necessarily includes discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, those words are not explicitly enumerated. For this reason, the Corporate Equality Index criteria still require a company to have a nondiscrimination or equal employment opportunity policy that explicitly enumerates both “sexual orientation” and “gender identity.” Clearly stating sexual orientation and gender identity as protected characteristics remains a best practice to ensure employees and prospective employees, as well as managers and supervisors, understand the company’s commitment to nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ people.

The decision is huge news for the LGBTQ community and has implications that will eventually reach civil rights laws forbidding discrimination in education, health care, housing and many more areas of law.

Criteria 2: Inclusive Benefits

IN THE U.S. EMPLOYER-PROVIDED HEALTH INSURANCE IS THE SINGLE LARGEST source of healthcare coverage. Competitive employer-provided benefits packages are critical to attracting and retaining talent. Widespread employer adoption of such packages helps to ensure that offering LGBTQ-inclusive benefits to employees and their families is a low-cost, high-return proposition for businesses. In addition, equitable benefits structures align with the principle of equal compensation for equal work. Apart from actual wages paid, benefits account on average for approximately 30 percent of employees’ overall compensation (BOL 2019). By amending their benefits structures, employers ensure that they extend this valuable bundle of benefits to their workforce equitably, irrespective of sexual orientation and gender identity.

Most employers have reported an overall increase of less than 3.5 percent in total benefits costs when they implement partner benefits and marginal increases related to transgender-inclusive healthcare coverage (i.e. a fraction of a decimal point of cost calculations).

The HRC Foundation rates and gives guidance on two key components of equal health insurance benefits:

  • Parity between benefits available for employees’ spouses and partners; and,
  • Affirmative transgender-inclusive healthcare benefits and removal of all broad exclusions to coverage across plan offerings.

In addition, employers are rated on having full parity across their entire suite of benefits – including non-healthcare benefits such as leave, retirement and others – between spouses and partners.

LGBTQ-inclusive benefits packages are:

  • Necessary for talent acquisition and retention and broader economic growth;
  • Equal compensation for equal work;
  • Helping employers keep pace with changing legal landscape and workforce expectations; and,
  • Minimal upfront costs (on average 1% increase for corporate employers’ overall health insurance costs).

The premise of parity underlies the inclusive benefits section of the CEI criteria. In its CEI scoring, the HRC Foundation does not penalize an employer if a particular benefit is not offered to any employees but holds employers accountable to provide LGBTQ employees and their families with the same benefits available to other employees across available benefits packages. For example, where routine care, hormone therapies and medically necessary surgeries are available to cisgender people (people who are not transgender), these same healthcare benefits must also be extended to transgender people covered by the plan. Many employers have begun to comprehensively address health insurance coverage for transgender individuals, and most have experienced insignificant or no premium increases as a result.


Continued Need for Partner Benefits

Since 2002, the CEI has required parity between spousal and partner benefits. After the United States v. Windsor and before the Obergefell v. Hodges Supreme Court rulings, HRC released a position paper cautioning against a marriage-only standard for accessing healthcare coverage, which is an unreasonable standard given the many other legal vulnerabilities that continue to affect LGBTQ individuals’ freedom beyond their right to marry.

Since the 2015 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, which brought marriage equality nationwide by ruling that marriage is a fundamental right to which same-sex couples should have the same access as opposite-sex couples, employers have sought to do the right thing in the name of equality and provide spousal benefits to both same- and different-sex married couples. Many employers assumed that the marriage ruling obviated the need for partner benefits; however, this is not true. While marriage equality is undoubtedly a monumental step toward full equality, LGBTQ individuals remain at risk for discrimination in many other aspects of daily life and these vulnerabilities continue to create barriers for many LGBTQ Americans to exercising their legal right to marry. In the absence of sexual orientation and gender identity protections through federal and consistent state law, LGBTQ individuals remain vulnerable to discrimination in housing, access to public places, federal funding, credit, education, jury service, and, in some cases, employment (for employees not covered under Title VII). While LGBTQ Americans can get legally married, this lack of guaranteed protection in other domains means a newly married LGBTQ couple are at risk for eviction from their home by a discriminatory landlord that sees their wedding photos on social media. Until LGBTQ Americans have full equality through the federal Equality Act, domestic partner benefits will remain an essential CEI standard that helps to fill the void left by federal and state law and ensure LGBTQ workers and their families receive equitable benefits whether married or partnered.

While marriage equality is undoubtedly a monumental step toward full equality, LGBTQ individuals remain at risk for discrimination in many other aspects of daily life and these vulnerabilities continue to create barriers for many LGBTQ Americans to exercising their legal right to marry.

Domestic partner benefits do not only serve same-sex couples. In fact, over the last decade most businesses that have offered same-sex partner benefits also extended these to different-sex partners. In other words, businesses have increasingly recognized the value of decoupling benefits from the legal definition of marriage to meet the needs of their diverse workforces.

While HRC never changed its partner benefits mandate, a small number of companies moved to spousal benefits-only policies in the middle of the 2016 CEI season. Out of an abundance of understanding for participating companies, credit was given for spousal equivalent benefits in the 2016-18 CEIs. After wide-scale education and outreach efforts, the 2019 CEI resumed enforcement of the standard for both same- and different-sex domestic partner benefits. 732 businesses met the standard in 2019, 836 in 2020, and 893 in 2021. The CEI continues to reflect best practices for LGBTQ workers and their families.

of CEI participants (893 of 1,142 respondents) documented that they provide inclusive benefits for same- and different-sex spouses and partners.

Understanding Transgender-Inclusive Healthcare Coverage

In 2004 the HRC Foundation identified transgender-inclusive healthcare coverage as a focus area for educational outreach and as a scored component of the CEI criteria.

From 2006 through 2011, a top CEI score meant businesses needed to mitigate at least one exclusion among five critical categories of transgender healthcare, namely: mental health; pharmacy benefits for hormone therapy; medical visits and lab procedures related to hormone therapy; surgical procedures; and short-term leave for surgical procedures. While awareness of barriers to transgender healthcare coverage steadily increased, a majority of CEI-rated businesses plateaued in offering mental healthcare coverage and/or short-term leave for surgical procedures and did not mitigate exclusions related to other medically necessary treatments.

In 2009 the HRC Foundation announced a major change to what would be the 2012 CEI criteria: to earn a top rating of 100 percent, a business needed to not just mitigate one or more exclusions but address the root problem of transgender exclusion in coverage and fully affirm healthcare coverage for medically necessary transition-related care and other routine and chronic conditions. The HRC Foundation embarked on a massive campaign of educational and consultative efforts to address healthcare and insurance disparities for the transgender population and their families, including: outreach to leading health insurance companies; direct consultation with both fully- and self-insured employers to modify their health insurance plans; and collection and dissemination of cost and utilization data from leading businesses.

of CEI-rated businesses (a record 1,040 of 1,142 respondents) offer at least one transgender-inclusive plan option with current market standard coverage, up from 0 in 2002 and just 8% in the 2009 CEI report. This year, of the 1,040 businesses with at least one inclusive plan, 996 also eliminated all exclusions across plans.

Growth of Trans Benefits Over Time


Criteria 3: Supporting an Inclusive Culture & Corporate Social Responsibility

Internal Education and Training Best Practices

of CEI-rated employers (1,052 of 1,142 respondents) offer a robust set of practices (at least three efforts) to support organizational LGBTQ diversity competency.

Equitable policies and benefits are critical to LGBTQ inclusion in the workforce but alone are not sufficient to support a truly inclusive culture within a workplace. Employers recognize that beyond the letter of a policy, additional programming and educational efforts are necessary.

Ultimately, businesses invest in organizational competency programs because:

  • Policy does not equal practice;
  • Despite progress, 46% of LGBTQ workers nationwide remain closeted on the job;
  • Invisible diversity requires unique training focus and defined safe space programs and resources;
  • Senior level buy-in and accountability metrics effect change quickly and for the long term; and,
  • Retaining workers is largely about everyday experiences on the job.

Many employers integrate educational programs into already existing diversity and inclusion programs. To obtain full credit in this criterion, employers must show at least three types of organizational competency programming. This comprehensive metric is provided as accountability for employers to devote resources to creating and maintaining a climate of inclusion.

  • Some of the most common forms of LGBTQ inclusion efforts are:
  • Diversity training programs such as new hire, manager and professional development training;
  • LGBTQ metrics through self-identification programs;
  • Performance evaluation mechanisms for senior leadership; and,
  • Gender transition guidelines.

of CEI-rated employers (1,033 of 1,142 respondents) have training for New Hires that clearly states that the nondiscrimination policy includes gender identity and sexual orientation, and provides definitions or scenarios illustrating the policy for each.

of CEI-rated employers (960 of 1,142 respondents) have Managers/Supervisors undergo training that includes gender identity and sexual orientation as discrete topics (may be part of a broader training), and provides definitions or scenarios illustrating the policy for each.

of CEI-rated employers (570 of 1,142 respondents) allow employees the option to self-identify as LGBTQ in anonymous employee engagement surveys or as part of data collection on confidential employee forms or in the HRIS system.

of CEI-rated employers (624 of 1,142 respondents) have instituted Gender Transition Guidelines with supportive restroom, dress code and documentation guidance to proactively support transitioning employees, their managers and their colleagues.

of CEI-rated employers (570 of 1,142 respondents) include LGBTQ diversity metrics as part of senior management/executive leadership performance standards.


IN LIGHT OF POLICY AND BENEFITS expansion, the HRC Foundation has rolled out a number of studies and resources aimed at making the policies and benefits part of an everyday workplace practice of LGBTQ inclusion.

In 2018, the HRC Foundation released A Workplace Divided: Understanding the Climate for LGBTQ Workers Nationwide (available at www.hrc.org/climate) demonstrating that despite significant progress, 46% of LGBTQ workers say they are closeted at work.

The widely used Transgender Inclusion in the Workplace: A Toolkit for Employers (available at www.hrc.org/transtoolkit) is a comprehensive resource to guide employer transgender inclusion efforts. The toolkit includes the HRC Foundation’s best practice guidance on transgender inclusive policies and practices (including sample policies) as well as guidance for implementing transgender-inclusive healthcare benefits. Addressing the gap in training and education materials, the toolkit includes scenario-based learning that uses real life examples from HRC’s work with businesses to illuminate the everyday experiences of transgender workers on the job.

These resources and additional materials to help employers close the gap between inclusive policy and practice can be found at www.hrc.org/transtoolkit.


LGBTQ Employee Resource Group or Diversity Council

Many large employers have formally recognized employee resource groups (also known as an employee network, business resource or affinity groups) for diverse populations of their workforce, including women, people of color, veterans, parents, people of varied abilities and LGBTQ & Allied people. These groups’ purpose is two-fold:

  • To foster a sense of community and visibility of these diverse populations within a business; and
  • To leverage each unique populations’ networks and skills to help accomplish business goals such as market innovation, recruitment and retention of talent.

ERGs are great platforms for leadership opportunities for LGBTQ and allied employees to better their own work environments. In addition, the reach of many ERGs extends beyond the everyday affairs of an employer to policymaking, representing the employer at professional events and external activities, participating in prospective employee recruitment efforts, mentoring, and other retention-focused programming.

LGBTQ/A ERGs empower employees as change agents and promote inclusion for LGBTQ employees within the workplace. Recognizing the differences in businesses rated in the CEI, this criterion can also be met with an organization wide diversity council or working group with a mission that specifically includes LGBTQ diversity and inclusion.

of CEI-rated employers (1,081 of 1,142 respondents) have an employee resource group or diversity council that includes LGBTQ and allied employees and programming.

Employees who do not identity as LGBTQ themselves, but are invested in equality and workplace inclusion are increasing their numbers within ERG ranks. While ERGs’ mission statements are specific to LGBTQ inclusion, increasingly ally-identified colleagues are encouraged to join as membership is not limited to those who are LGBTQ but open to all supporters of equality.

of those companies with an officially recognized LGBTQ employee group (938 of 974) report the ERG is expressly for LGBTQ and Allied employees.

ERGs have embraced Allies as critical supporters of the full LGBTQ community, as Allies bring their own unique voice and vantage point to workplace equality. The profile and impact of an employee resource groups is greatly enhanced by an active executive champion for the group.

of employee groups reported in the CEI (938 of 974) are sponsored by an executive champion.

Outreach or Engagement with LGBTQ Community

Despite the disruption of the COVID-19 epidemic with cancellation of in-person events worldwide, CEI-rated businesses followed-through on their commitments to LGBTQ community engagement throughout the year largely by leveraging online and virtual engagement platforms.

of CEI-rated businesses (1,056 of 1,142 respondents) met the standard of demonstrating a least three efforts of public commitment to the LGBTQ community.

Businesses have extensive programs to engage with key markets and the communities in which they operate. Public commitment in the CEI is measured through a number of individual engagements, namely through:

  • Marketing, advertising and sponsorship efforts;
  • LGBTQ-specific recruiting efforts;
  • Philanthropic contributions;
  • LGBTQ supplier diversity programs; and,
  • Public policy weigh-in.

Additionally, the CEI includes a set of standards around foundational giving to fully align a business’s actions with its core values and to raise the bar for corporate social responsibility.

Businesses see advantages in going public with their commitment to equality, including:

  • Reputational benefits to supporting equality groups and programs;
  • Corporate case for LGBTQ legal equality: they are on right side of history and eliminate barriers to investment;
  • Attracting and retaining next generation of workers and consumers – the importance of communicating pro-equality messages to millennials; and,
  • LGBTQ public support is seen as a bellwether for broader issues of diversity and inclusion.

Recruiting

Professional events such as the annual Out & Equal Workplace Summit, Lavender Law conference and the Reaching Out MBA Conference and career expo are filled with highly rated CEI employers looking to attract diverse employees. Employers’ presence at these and other events sends a clear message to potential employees that LGBTQ diversity is part of company culture, and that LGBTQ candidates are valued as the best and the brightest across industries, geographies and trades. While many of these recruiting events went to virtual platforms in 2020, CEI-rated businesses remained engaged.

of CEI-rated businesses (584 of 1,142 respondents) attended an LGBTQ-specific recruiting event or function.

Marketing & Advertising

Ad campaigns and sponsorships further this message of company values to the public. Increasingly, ads with authentic images of LGBTQ people are featured in both LGBTQ media outlets and general press alike. Corporate philanthropic activities ranging from financial support to in-kind donations of products or services can bolster a business’s profile in the LGBTQ community.

of CEI-rated businesses (728 of 1,142 respondents) ran LGBTQ-specific ads or marketing content or sponsored LGBTQ inclusive events such as Pride.

Philanthropy

Corporate giving to organizations promoting LGBTQ health, education or political efforts further demonstrates this commitment to broader LGBTQ equality. Typically, these efforts have a strategic connection to the core mission of a business, such as a law firm’s pro bono legal support of organizations tasked with direct legal representation of LGBTQ individuals.

of CEI-rated businesses (732 of 1,142 respondents) provided philanthropic support via cash or in-kind donation to at least one LGBTQ specific organization.

Supplier Diversity

Supplier diversity programs ensure that the procurement process includes specific opportunities for minority-owned businesses, including women-owned, veteran-owned and, more recently, LGBTQ-owned businesses. Supplier diversity initiatives have existed in the business community for at least three decades, going back to the inception of such groups as the National Association of Women Business Owners and the National Minority Business Council, both founded in the early 1970s to promote the inclusion of these under-utilized entrepreneurial groups. Furthermore, there are federal initiatives such as the Center for Veterans Enterprise that is designed to assist U.S. veterans in launching and thriving in private business. These initiatives intend to give more equitable opportunities to those would be small business owners who are more likely to face social and practical barriers to success.

The National LGBT Chamber of Commerce began certifying LGBTQ-owned small businesses in 2002, a process that requires substantiation of majority LGBTQ ownership in a business and verification of a business’ good standing in the community. Supplier diversity initiatives are a win-win relationship

of CEI-rated businesses with supplier diversity programs (599 of 681) specifically include LGBTQ-owned enterprises in their programs.

These businesses are enjoying a multitude of benefits, including a supply chain that better reflects the diverse communities in which they operate, and in turn garnering sharper innovation and business solutions.

Corporate Social Responsibility

A business’s nondiscrimination policies should not be limited to human resources or diversity and inclusion. The CEI’s Corporate Social Responsibility criteria ensure that sexual orientation and gender identity protections apply to those standards that businesses require their vendors or suppliers to adhere to, as well as recipients of their philanthropic funds.

Supplier/Vendor Standards Include LGBTQ Nondiscrimination

Large businesses typically rely on other businesses for goods or services, and businesses of the size included in the CEI typically have set standards and guidelines already embedded in their procurement. In order to ensure that suppliers act in a manner that adheres to a business’s own standards, it is necessary for businesses to establish standards of conduct that set expectations for behavior of their suppliers.

of rated employers in this year’s CEI have supplier mandates with respect to nondiscrimination in place, and 99% of these mandates (1,020 of 1,030 companies) explicitly include sexual orientation and gender identity alongside other named categories.

Philanthropic Giving Guidelines

The HRC Foundation has always held businesses accountable for the types of organizations receiving their philanthropic dollars. Historically, the CEI had a mechanism to account for foundational corporate giving to any organization whose explicit mission included efforts to undermine LGBTQ equality. This framework was widened in 2016 to hold companies accountable for any giving to a non-religious organization with an explicit policy of discrimination against LGBTQ people. This requirement sets the standards around responsible foundational giving and ensures that a top rated business does not provide philanthropic support to organizations whose values do not align with theirs.

The requirement is that a top-rated business must implement internal requirements prohibiting company or law firm philanthropic giving to nonreligious organizations that have a written policy of discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity or have a policy explicitly permitting its own chapters, affiliates, etc. to discriminate.

of CEI-rated businesses (971 of 1,142 respondents) have written giving guidelines that prohibit philanthropic support of non-religious organizations with an explicit policy of discrimination towards LGBTQ people.


Spotlight:

Equality in the Public Square

SINCE 2015, THE RATES OF CORPORATE ENGAGEMENT ON MATTERS OF LGBTQ EQUALITY UNDER the law and LGBTQ-related public policy have skyrocketed. Ever since the historic Obergefell decision enshrining marriage equality as the law of the land, state legislators across the country have responded with a proliferation of hundreds of anti-LGBTQ bills.

Businesses, however, decidedly oppose these discriminatory bills. Over the last six years, businesses have repeatedly spoken out and rebuked attempts from state-to-state to undermine LGBTQ civil rights at record rates. Corporate leaders are driven not only by principle but also by the understanding that anti-LGBTQ bills that attempt to curb access to public services for transgender people, or deny basic services to LGBTQ families, or preempt local nondiscrimination ordinances put their employees, their employees’ families, and their customers at risk. Plainly, they are bad for business.

CEI-rated employers are on record supporting broad issues of LGBTQ equality at the local, state and federal levels as well as through amicus briefs with the courts because they know equality is good for business.

HRC’s Business Coalition for the Equality Act is a group of over 320 leading U.S. employers that support the Equality Act, federal legislation that would provide the same basic protections to LGBTQ people as are provided to other protected groups under federal law. Coalition member companies represent nearly every industry, employ over 12.3 million people in the U.S., command over $5.7 trillion in revenue and have operations in all 50 states.

The Equality Act creates clear, consistent protections to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in employment ensuring that LGBTQ employees are hired, fired, and promoted based on their performance. In addition, the bill provides protections from discrimination for LGBTQ people in housing, credit, and jury service. The bill would also prohibit discrimination in public spaces and services, and federal funding on the basis of sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity.

Private sector support for the federal Equality Act surged in the last year. At present, over 320 major employers are signatories on HRC’s Business Coalition for the Equality Act.

  • 3M Co.
  • Abercrombie & Fitch Co.
  • Accenture
  • Adobe Inc.
  • ADP
  • Advance Auto Parts (Advance Holding)
  • Advanced Micro Devices Inc.
  • Airbnb Inc.
  • Airbus Americas Inc.
  • Alaska Airlines
  • Alcoa Corp.
  • AlixPartners LLP
  • Alliance Data Systems Corp.
  • Ally Financial Inc.
  • Altice USA Inc.
  • Altria Group Inc.
  • Amalgamated Bank
  • Amazon.com Inc.
  • American Airlines
  • American Eagle Outfitters Inc.
  • American Express Company
  • American Express Global Business Travel
  • American Honda Motor Co.
  • Ameriprise Financial Inc.
  • AMN Healthcare Services Inc.
  • Apple Inc.
  • Applied Materials Inc.
  • Arconic
  • Asana, Inc.
  • Ascena Retail Group Inc.
  • Aspen Skiing Company LLC
  • Asurion LLC
  • AT&T Inc.
  • Atlassian
  • Avnet Inc.
  • AXA Equitable Life
  • Bain & Co. Inc./ Bridgespan Group
  • Bank of America Corp.
  • BASF Corp.
  • Bayer U.S. LLC
  • BBVA USA
  • Becton, Dickinson and Co.
  • Best Buy Co. Inc.
  • Biogen
  • Box Inc.
  • Bridgestone Americas Holding Inc.
  • Bright Horizons
  • Bristol Myers Squibb
  • Broadridge Financial Solutions Inc.
  • Brown Rudnick LLP
  • Brown-Forman Corp.
  • Buckley LLP
  • Burson Cohn & Wolfe
  • Caesars Entertainment Corp.
  • California Water Service Group
  • Capital One Financial Corp.
  • Cardinal Health Inc.
  • Cargill Inc.
  • Cengage Learning Inc.
  • Chevron Corp.
  • Chobani
  • Choice Hotels International Inc.
  • Cisco Systems Inc.
  • Citigroup Inc.
  • Citrix Systems Inc.
  • CME Group Inc.
  • CNA Financial Corporation
  • The Coca-Cola Co.
  • Compass Real Estate LLC
  • Converse Inc.
  • Corning
  • Cox Enterprises Inc.
  • CSAA Insurance Group
  • Cummins Inc.
  • CVS Health Corp.
  • Daniel J. Edelman Inc.
  • Danone North America
  • Darden Restaurants Inc.
  • Day Pitney LLP
  • Debevoise & Plimpton LLP
  • Dell Technologies Inc.
  • Deloitte LLP
  • Delta Air Lines Inc.
  • The Depository Trust & Clearing Corp.
  • Diageo North America
  • Domino’s Pizza Inc.
  • Dow
  • Dropbox Inc.
  • E*TRADE Financial Corp.
  • E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. (DuPont)
  • Eastern Bank Corporation
  • Eaton Corp.
  • eBay Inc.
  • Ecolab Inc.
  • Edison International
  • EMD Serono, MilliporeSigma, and EMD Performance Materials
  • Empower Retirement
  • Ericsson Inc.
  • Ernst & Young LLP
  • The Estée Lauder Companies Inc.
  • Evolent Health Inc.
  • Exelon Corp.
  • Expedia Group
  • Facebook Inc.
  • First Data Corp.
  • Fiserv Inc.
  • Food Lion, LLC
  • Fossil Group Inc.
  • Gap Inc.
  • General Electric Co.
  • General Mills Inc.
  • General Motors Co.
  • The GIANT Company
  • Giant of Maryland LLC
  • Gilead Sciences Inc.
  • Glassdoor Inc.
  • GlaxoSmithKline LLC
  • GODADDY Inc.
  • Glassdoor Inc.
  • GlaxoSmithKline LLC
  • GODADDY Inc.
  • Google Inc.
  • The Guardian Life Insurance Co. of America
  • Guidehouse
  • Halstead Real Estate
  • Hannaford Supermarkets
  • HERE North America LLC
  • The Hershey Co.
  • Hess Corp.
  • Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co.
  • HILTON
  • Hiscox USA
  • Hogan Lovells US LLP
  • Holland & Knight LLP
  • Host Hotels & Resorts Inc.
  • HP Inc.
  • HSF Affiliates LLC
  • HSN Inc.
  • Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP
  • Hyatt Hotels Corp.
  • IBM Corp.
  • IDEX Corp.
  • IHS Markit Ltd.
  • IKEA Holding US Inc.
  • Information Resources Inc.
  • Ingersoll-Rand Company
  • Insight Enterprises Inc.
  • Intel Corp.
  • InterContinental Hotels Group Americas
  • International Flavors & Fragrances
  • Iron Mountain Inc.
  • Jacobs Engineering Group Inc.
  • Jenner & Block LLP
  • John Hancock Financial Services Inc.
  • Johnson & Johnson
  • JPMorgan Chase & Co.
  • JSX
  • Juniper Networks Inc.
  • Kabbage Inc.
  • Kaiser Permanente
  • Kearney
  • Keep Truckin, Inc.
  • Keller Williams Realty Inc.
  • Kellogg Co.
  • Kenneth Cole Productions Inc.
  • KeyCorp
  • Kind LLC
  • The Knot Worldwide
  • KPMG LLP
  • Lendlease Americas Inc.
  • Levi Strauss & Co.
  • Linden Research Inc.
  • Lord, Abbett & Co. LLC
  • Lowenstein Sandler LLP
  • Lush Fresh Handmade Cosmetics
  • Lyft Inc.
  • Macy’s Inc.
  • ManpowerGroup
  • Marriott International Inc.
  • Mars Inc.
  • Marsh & McLennan Companies Inc.
  • Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co.
  • Mastercard
  • McAfee LLC
  • McCormick & Company Inc.
  • McKesson Corp.
  • McKinsey & Co. Inc.
  • McKinstry Co. LLC
  • Medtronic PLC
  • Merck
  • Meredith Corp.
  • MGM Resorts International
  • Micron Technology Inc.
  • Microsoft Corp.
  • MillerCoors LLC
  • Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams
  • Mondelez International Inc.
  • Moody’s Corp.
  • Morgan Stanley
  • Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP
  • Morningstar Inc.
  • Morris, Manning & Martin LLP
  • NASDAQ Inc.
  • National Grid USA
  • Nationwide
  • Navient
  • Nestlé USA Inc.
  • Netflix Inc.
  • New Belgium Brewing Company
  • Nielsen
  • Nike Inc.
  • Nordstrom Inc.
  • Northrop Grumman Corp.
  • NortonLifeLock
  • Nuance Communications
  • Ocean Spray Cranberries Inc.
  • Office Depot Inc.
  • Oracle Corp.
  • Owens Corning
  • Palo Alto Networks
  • Pariveda Solutions Inc.
  • Patreon Inc.
  • Paul Hastings LLP
  • PayPal Holdings Inc.
  • Peloton Interactive Inc.
  • PepsiCo Inc.
  • PetSmart Inc.
  • Pfizer Inc.
  • PG&E Corp.
  • Philip Morris International Inc.
  • Pinterest Inc.
  • Pioneer Natural Resources Company
  • The PNC Financial Services Group Inc.
  • Porter Wright Morris & Arthur LLP
  • Power Home Remodeling
  • PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
  • Principal Financial Group
  • Procter & Gamble Co.
  • Pure Storage Inc.
  • PVH Corp.
  • QUALCOMM Inc.
  • Re/Max LLC
  • Realogy Holdings Corp.
  • Red Hat Inc.
  • Redfin Corp.
  • Replacements Ltd.
  • Rockwell Automation Inc.
  • Royal Bank of Canada
  • S&P Global Inc.
  • Salesforce
  • SAP America Inc.
  • Seagate Technology plc
  • Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP
  • Shire PLC
  • Shook, Hardy & Bacon LLP
  • Shutterstock Inc.
  • Siemens Corp.
  • Sodexo Inc.
  • Sony Electronics Inc.
  • Southwest Airlines Co.
  • Spotify USA Inc.
  • Square Inc.
  • Stanley Black & Decker Inc.
  • Starbucks Corp.
  • Steelcase Inc.
  • SUEZ Water Technologies and Solutions
  • Sun Life
  • SurveyMonkey Inc.
  • Synchrony
  • SYSCO Corp.
  • Takeda Pharmaceuticals USA Inc.
  • Target Corp.
  • TD Ameritrade
  • TD Bank, N.A.
  • Tech Data Corp.
  • TEGNA Inc.
  • Tesla Inc.
  • Teva Pharmaceutical USA Inc.
  • Texas Instruments Inc.
  • TIAA
  • T-Mobile USA Inc.
  • TPG Global LLC
  • TransUnion
  • TripAdvisor Inc.
  • Truist Financial
  • Turner Construction Co.
  • Twitter Inc.
  • U.S. Bancorp
  • Uber Technologies Inc.
  • UKG (Ultimate Kronos Group)
  • Under Armour Inc.
  • Unilever
  • Union Pacific Corp.
  • United Airlines Holdings, Inc.
  • United Parcel Service Inc.
  • Univar Solutions Inc.
  • Univision Communications Inc.
  • Vanguard Group Inc.
  • Verizon Communications Inc.
  • ViiV Healthcare Company
  • Visa
  • Warby Parker
  • Warner Music Inc.
  • WE Communications
  • Wellmark Inc.
  • Wells Fargo & Co.
  • Western Digital Corp.
  • Whirlpool Corp.
  • Williams-Sonoma Inc.
  • Workday Inc.
  • Wyndham Hotels & Resorts Inc.
  • Xcel Energy Inc.
  • Xerox Corp.
  • Xperi Holdings Corporation
  • Xylem Inc.
  • Yelp Inc.
  • Yext Inc.
  • ZenPayroll Inc. dba Gusto
  • Zillow Group
  • Zimmer Biomet Holdings Inc.

Corporate Equality Index 2021

Rating System and Methodology

The HRC Foundation’s CEI rating system is designed for mid to large businesses (500 full time employees and above) and divided into three key categories of criteria:

  • Nondiscrimination policies across business entities;
  • Equitable benefits for LGBTQ workers and their families;
  • Supporting an inclusive culture and corporate social responsibility.

Launched in 2002, the CEI is the first internationally recognized benchmarking report for businesses to gauge their level of LGBTQ workplace inclusion against competitors. In addition to growing the number of highly-rated employers, the CEI has seen success in the reach of the survey. The number of employers officially rated from the first CEI to the present has expanded from 319 to 1,142, encompassing all major industry sectors. Invitations and Participation

The largest and most successful U.S. employers are invited to participate in the CEI and are identified through the following lists*:

  • Fortune magazine’s 1,000 largest publicly traded businesses (2019 Fortune 1000) and
  • American Lawyer magazine’s top 200 revenue grossing law firms (2019 AmLaw 200).

Additionally, any private-sector, for-profit employer with 500 or more full-time U.S. employees can request to participate, including those that are privately held.

*Note on timing of the lists. Due to the staggered timelines of the ranking lists and when contact lists are made available, the ranking year lags the CEI survey year by one year and the publication year by up to two years

How We Obtain the Information

The primary source of information for the Corporate Equality Index rating each business received is the CEI survey sent every year to previous and prospective respondents. The web-based survey included links to sample policies and other guidance on the HRC Foundation website.

HRC Foundation staff provided additional assistance and direct consultation throughout the process and reviewed submitted documentation (required within each section) for appropriate language and consistency with survey answers.

Invitations for the CEI 2021 survey were emailed and mailed in June 2020 and responses were due back September 2020. If a business had previously participated in the CEI, surveys were first sent to the individuals responsible for prior submissions. If a business had not previously participated in the CEI, surveys were sent to the chief executive officer or managing partner of the firm, as well as the highest-level executive/s responsible for human resources, diversity, communications or community engagement when it was possible to obtain their contact information. The information required to generate CEI ratings for businesses is difficult to ascertain from public records alone. In addition to the self-reporting provided through the CEI survey, we investigated and cross-checked the policies and practices of the rated businesses, any connections with organizations that engage in antiLGBTQ activities and news accounts of efforts that undermine LGBTQ equality writ-large (e.g. through case law efforts or public policy lobbying actions). Employers were not rated until all appropriate information had been gathered and verified to the extent possible. Businesses were invited to provide HRC Foundation staff with any additional information or updates before this report was published.

In total, the sources used include:

  • The HRC Foundation’s CEI survey;
  • Internal Revenue Service 990 tax filings reviewed for any business foundation’s gifts to anti-LGBTQ groups;
  • Case law and news accounts regarding findings of discrimination and corporate responsibility and the LGBTQ community at-large; and,
  • Individuals that report information to HRC Foundation.

If a business was found to have a connection with an anti-LGBTQ organization or activity, the HRC Foundation contacted the business and provided an opportunity to respond and ensure, to the best of its ability, that no such action would occur in the future and to mitigate the harm done. Businesses unwilling to do so are penalized 25 points from their overall rating through Criterion 4.

Official and Unofficial Ratings

The HRC Foundation may rate businesses that have not submitted a survey this year if the business had submitted a survey in previous years and the information is determined to be accurate, or if the HRC Foundation has obtained sufficient information to provide an individual rating. In both cases, the HRC Foundation notified the business of the official rating and gave them an opportunity for any updates or clarification prior to the report release.

Fortune 500-ranked businesses that after multiple invitations have never responded to the CEI survey were evaluated independently and have designated unofficial ratings listed in gray in Appendix A. The HRC Foundation proactively evaluates these 113 Fortune-ranked companies for two key reasons:

  • To provide the public with accurate information on these key employers; and
  • To ensure the CEI is truly a benchmarking report among peers.

No matter the rating, any business that participates in the CEI is taking on a transparent, credible process of LGBTQ inclusion. Because LGBTQ workers and prospective employees must navigate the gaps in federal and state protections that affect their employment decisions, our staff views the research on these businesses through this same lens, ascertaining what we can from publicly available information and applying those findings to our CEI criteria.

The HRC Foundation commends those employers that have committed to the public and transparent process of the CEI survey and we invite these 113 companies to do the same.

In total, the CEI 2021 contains official ratings for 366 Fortune 500 businesses, 476 Fortune 1000 businesses, 166 law firms and 500 additional major businesses. With the additional 113 Fortune 500 businesses that have unofficial ratings, the total of rated businesses is 1,255. Findings in the 2021 CEI report are based on the 1,142 officially rated businesses.


Scoring Criteria

Criteria 1

Workforce Protections (30 points possible)

a. Policy includes sexual orientation for all operations - 15 points

b. Policy includes gender identity or expression for all operations - 15 points

Criteria 2

Inclusive Benefits (30 points possible)

To secure full credit for benefits criteria, each benefit must be available to all benefits-eligible U.S. employees. In areas where more than one health insurance plan is available, at least one inclusive plan must be available

a. Equivalency in same- and different-sex spousal medical and soft benefits - 10 points

b. Equivalency in same- and different-sex domestic partner medical and soft benefits - 10 points

c. Equal health coverage for transgender individuals without exclusion for medically necessary care - 10 points

  • Equal health coverage for transgender individuals without exclusions for medically necessary care
  • Insurance contract explicitly affirms coverage and contains no blanket exclusions for coverage
  • Insurance contract and/or policy documentation is based on the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) Standards of Care
  • Plan documentation must be readily available to employees and must clearly communicate inclusive insurance options to employees and their eligible dependents.
  • Other benefits available for other medical conditions are also available to transgender individuals. Specifically, where available for employees, the following benefits should all extend to transgender individuals, including for transition-related services:
  • Short term medical leave
  • Mental health benefits
  • Pharmaceutical coverage (e.g., for hormone replacement therapies)
  • Coverage for medical visits or laboratory services
  • Coverage for reconstructive surgical procedures related to sex reassignment

Criteria 3

Supporting an Inclusive Culture & Corporate Social Responsibility (40 points possible)

a. Three LGBTQ Internal Training and Education Best Practices Businesses must demonstrate a firm-wide, sustained and accountable commitment to diversity and cultural competency, including at least three of the following elements: - 10 points

  • New hire training clearly states that the nondiscrimination policy includes gender identity and sexual orientation and provides definitions or scenarios illustrating the policy for each
  • Supervisors undergo training that includes gender identity and sexual orientation as discrete topics (may be part of a broader training), and provides definitions or scenarios illustrating the policy for each
  • Integration of gender identity and sexual orientation in professional development, skills-based or other leadership training that includes elements of diversity and/or cultural competency
  • Gender transition guidelines with supportive restroom, dress code and documentation guidance
  • Anonymous employee engagement or climate surveys conducted on an annual or biennial basis allow employees the option to identify as LGBTQ.
  • Data collection forms that include employee race, ethnicity, gender, military and disability status — typically recorded as part of employee records — include optional questions on sexual orientation and gender identity.
  • Senior management/executive performance measures include LGBTQ diversity metrics

b. Employee group –or– Diversity council - 10 points

c. Three Distinct Efforts of Outreach or Engagement to Broader LGBTQ Community Businesses must demonstrate ongoing LGBTQ-specific engagement that extends across the firm, including at least three of the following: 15 points

  • LGBTQ employee recruitment efforts with demonstrated reach of LGBTQ applicants (required documentation may include a short summary of the event or an estimation of the number of candidates reached)
  • Supplier diversity program with demonstrated effort to include certified LGBTQ suppliers
  • Marketing or advertising to LGBTQ consumers (e.g.: advertising with LGBTQ content, advertising in LGBTQ media or sponsoring LGBTQ organizations and events)
  • Philanthropic support of at least one LGBTQ organization or event (e.g.: financial, in kind or pro bono support)
  • Demonstrated public support for LGBTQ equality under the law through local, state or federal legislation or initiatives

d. LGBTQ Corporate Social Responsibility - 5 points

  • Contractor/supplier nondiscrimination standards AND Philanthropic Giving Guidelines

Criteria 4

Responsible citizenship (-25) - -25 points

Employers will have 25 points deducted from their score for a large-scale official or public antiLGBTQ blemish on their recent records. Scores on this criterion are based on information that has come to HRC’s attention related to topics including but not limited to: undue influence by a significant shareholder calculated to undermine a business’s employment policies or practices related to its LGBTQ employees; directing corporate charitable contributions to organizations whose primary mission includes advocacy against LGBTQ equality; opposing shareholder resolutions reasonably aimed at encouraging the adoption of inclusive workplace policies; revoking inclusive LGBTQ policies or practices; or engaging in proven practices that are contrary to the business’s written LGBTQ employment policies.


CEI 2021 Top Score - 100 points

Best Places to Work for LGBTQ Equality 2021

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THE HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN FOUNDATION IS proud to recognize the following 767 businesses that met all the criteria to earn a 100 percent rating and the designation of being a 2021 “Best Place to Work for LGBTQ Equality.” Top-rated CEI employers come from nearly every industry and region of the United States. To earn top ratings, these employers took concrete steps to establish and implement comprehensive policies, benefits and practices that ensure greater equity for LGBTQ workers and their families.

3M Co.

AbbVie Inc.

Abercrombie & Fitch Co.

Accenture

Activision Blizzard

Adidas North America Inc.

Adobe Inc.

ADP

Advanced Micro Devices Inc.

AECOM

AIG

Air Liquide US, LLC

Air Products & Chemicals Inc.

Airbnb Inc.

Airbus Americas Inc.

Airlines Reporting Corporation (ARC)

Akamai Technologies Inc.

Akerman LLP

Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld LLP

Alight Solutions

AlixPartners LLP

AllianceBernstein LP

Alliant Energy Corp.

Allianz Life Insurance Co. of North America

Ally Financial Inc.

Alston & Bird LLP

Altice USA Inc.

Altria Group Inc.

Amalgamated Bank

Amazon.com Inc.

AMC Entertainment Inc.

Ameren Corp.

American Airlines

American Electric Power Co. Inc.

American Express Company

American Express Global Business Travel

American Family Mutual Insurance Company, S.I

AmerisourceBergen Corp.

Amgen Inc.

Anheuser-Busch Companies Inc.

Anschutz Entertainment Group, Inc.

Anthem Inc.

Aon plc

Apollo Global Management Inc.

Apple Inc.

Applied Materials Inc.

AQR Capital Management LLC

Aramark Corp.

Arcadis U.S. Inc.

Arconic

Arent Fox LLP

Ares Management LLC

Armstrong Teasdale LLP

Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP

Arrow Electronics

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

Arup USA Inc

Ascena Retail Group Inc.

Assurant

Astellas Pharma US Inc.

AstraZeneca PLC

Asurion LLC

AT&T Inc.

Atlassian

Autodesk Inc.

Avient Corporation

Avita Pharmacy

AXA Equitable Life

Axiom Global Inc.

BAE Systems Inc.

Bain & Co. Inc./ Bridgespan Group

Baker & Hostetler LLP

Baker & McKenzie LLP

Baker Botts LLP

Ball Corp.

Ballard Spahr LLP

Bank of America Corp.

The Bank of New York Mellon Corp.

Bank of the West

Barclays

Barilla America Inc.

Barnes & Noble Inc.

BASF Corp.

Bass, Berry & Sims PLC

Baxter International Inc.

Bayer U.S. LLC

BBVA USA

Beam Suntory

Becton, Dickinson and Co.

Ben & Jerry’s Homemade Inc.

Berkshire Bank

Best Buy Co. Inc.

Biogen

BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc.

Black & Veatch Holding Inc.

Black Knight Inc.

BlackRock

The Blackstone Group LP

Blank Rome LLP

Bloomberg LP

Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida Inc.

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota

Blue Shield of California

BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee

BMO Financial Corp.

BNP Paribas

Boehringer Ingelheim USA Corp.

Boies Schiller Flexner LLP

Booz Allen Hamilton Inc.

Boston Consulting Group

Boston Scientific Corp.

BounceX

Box Inc.

BP America Inc.

Bridgewater Associates LP

Bristol Myers Squibb

Broadridge Financial Solutions Inc.

Brooks Sports Inc.

Brown Advisory

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.

Brown Rudnick LLP

Brown-Forman Corp.

Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck LLP

Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP

Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC

Buckley LLP

Buzzfeed

C&S Wholesale Grocers Inc.

Cadence Design Systems

Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP

Caesars Entertainment Corp.

Cambia Health Solutions Inc.

Cambridge Associates LLC

Capgemini America, INC

Capital Area Services Company, LLC (CASCI)

The Capital Group Companies Inc.

The Capital Markets Company NV

Capital One Financial Corp.

Cardinal Health Inc.

CareFirst Inc.

Cargill Inc.

Cargo Transporters Inc.

Carlson Inc.

Carlton Fields P.A.

The Carlyle Group LP

CarMax Inc.

Carnival Corp.

Carrier Global Corporation

CBRE Inc.

CDW Corp.

Celanese Corp.

Celgene Corp.

Cengage Learning Inc.

Centene Corp.

Cerner Corp.

CGI

Chapman and Cutler LLP

Charles Schwab & Co. Inc.

Chemonics International Inc

Chevron Corp.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc.

Choate, Hall & Stewart LLP

Chobani

Choice Hotels International Inc.

Chubb Ltd.

CIGNA Corp.

Cimpress USA Inc

Cisco Systems Inc.

CIT Group Inc.

Citigroup Inc.

Citizens Financial Group

Citrix Systems Inc.

Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP

The Clorox Co.

Cloudflare Inc

CME Group Inc.

CNA Financial Corporation

The Coca-Cola Co.

Colgate-Palmolive Co.

Comcast NBCUniversal

Comerica Inc.

Community Care Behavioral Health Organization

Conagra Brands Inc.

ConocoPhillips

Constellation Brands Inc.

Cooley LLP

Cooper Tire & Rubber Co.

Corteva Agriscience

The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas

Covington & Burling LLP

Cox Enterprises Inc.

Cozen O’Connor

Credit Suisse USA Inc.

CrowdStrike Inc.

Crowell & Moring LLP

CSAA Insurance Group

Cubic Corporation

Cummins Inc.

CUNA Mutual Group

Cushman & Wakefield

Danaher Corp.

Danone North America

Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP

Davis Wright Tremaine LLP

Day Pitney LLP

Debevoise & Plimpton LLP

Dechert LLP

Dell Technologies Inc.

Deloitte LLP

Dentons US LLP

The Depository Trust & Clearing Corp.

Designer Brands

Deutsche Bank

Diageo North America

Dickinson Wright PLLC

Digitas

Discover Financial Services

DLA Piper

Dominion Energy

Dorsey & Whitney LLP

Dow

Dropbox Inc.

Duane Morris LLP

Duke Energy Corp.

The Dun & Bradstreet Corp.

Dunkin’ Brands Group Inc.

Dykema Gossett PLLC

E&J Gallo Winery

E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. (DuPont)

EAB

Eastern Bank Corporation/Eastern Bankshares, Inc.

Eastman Chemical Co.

Eastman Kodak Co.

Eaton Corp.

Eaton Vance

eBay Inc.

Ecolab Inc.

Edison International

Edward Jones

Egon Zehnder International Inc.

Electronic Arts Inc

Eli Lilly & Co.

EMD Serono, MilliporeSigma, and EMD Performance

Materials

Emerson Electric Co.

Enbridge

Epsilon Data Management LLC

Ericsson Inc

Ernst & Young LLP

The Estée Lauder Companies Inc.

Etsy Inc.

Eversheds Sutherland (US) LLP

Evolent Health Inc.

Exelon Corp.

Expedia Group

Experian North America

Facebook Inc.

FactSet Research Systems Inc.

Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP

Farmers Insurance Group

Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. (Freddie Mac)

Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae)

Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta

Federal Reserve Bank of Boston

Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago

Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland

Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City

Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis

Federal Reserve Bank of New York

Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia

Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond

Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco

Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis

Fenwick & West LLP

Fidelity National Information Services Inc.

Fifth Third Bancorp

Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc.

Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner LLP

First American Financial Corp.

Fiserv Inc.

Fish & Richardson PC

Fisher & Phillips LLP

Fitch Group Inc

Fleishman-Hillard Inc.

FMC Corp.

Foley & Lardner LLP

Foley Hoag LLP

Food Lion, LLC

Fortive Corp.

Fossil Group Inc.

Fox Corporation

Fox Rothschild LLP

Franklin Templeton Investments

Fredrikson & Byron

Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP

Frost Brown Todd LLC

Fujitsu America, Inc.

GameStop Corp.

Gannett Co. Inc.

Gap Inc.

Gartner Inc.

GE Appliances

Genentech Inc.

General Mills Inc.

Genesco Inc.

Genworth Financial Inc.

Gerson Lehrman Group Inc

The GIANT Company

Giant Eagle Inc.

Giant of Maryland LLC

Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP

Gilead Sciences Inc.

GlaxoSmithKline LLC

Global Payments Inc.

GODADDY Inc.

The Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

Goodwin Procter LLP

Google Inc.

Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani, LLP

Goulston & Storrs

Grant Thornton LLP

Great River Energy

Greenberg Traurig LLP

Groupon Inc.

The Guardian Life Insurance Co. of America

Guidehouse

H&R Block Inc.

Hallmark Cards Inc.

Hannaford Supermarkets

The Hanover Insurance Group Inc.

The Hartford Financial Services Group Inc.

Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Inc.

Hasbro Inc.

Haven Behavioral Healthcare

Haynes and Boone LLP

Health Care Service Corp.

Henry Schein Inc.

HERE North America LLC

Herman Miller Inc.

The Hershey Co.

Hertz Global Holdings Inc.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co.

Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield Delaware

Highmark Inc.

Highmark West Virginia

Hilti Inc.

HILTON

Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP

Hogan Lovells US LLP

Holland & Hart LLP

Holland & Knight LLP

Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey

HP Inc.

HSBC USA

Humana Inc.

Huntington Bancshares Inc.

Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP

Huron Consulting Group Inc.

Husch Blackwell LLP

Hyatt Hotels Corp.

Hyundai Motor America

IAC/InterActiveCorp.

IBM Corp.

Ice Miller LLP

IHS Markit Ltd.

IKEA Holding US Inc.

Illumina

Impossible Foods

Indeed Inc.

Information Resources Inc.

Ingram Micro

Instacart

Intel Corp.

InterContinental Hotels Group Americas

International Flavors & Fragrances

Interpublic Group of Companies Inc.

Intrado

Intuit Inc.

Invesco Ltd.

Iron Mountain Inc.

J. Crew Group, LLC

Jackson Lewis PC

Jacobs Engineering Group Inc.

Janus Henderson Investors

Jenner & Block LLP

JLL

John Hancock Financial Services Inc.

John Wiley & Sons Inc.

Johnson & Johnson

JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JSX

K&L Gates LLP

Kaiser Permanente

Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP

Kearney

Kelley Drye & Warren LLP

Kellogg Co.

Kelly Services Inc.

Kering Americas Inc.

Keurig Dr Pepper Inc.

KeyCorp

Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP

Kimpton Hotel & Restaurant Group LLC

King & Spalding LLP

Kirkland & Ellis LLP

KKR & Co. LP

The Knot Worldwide

Kobre & Kim

Kohl’s Corp.

Korn Ferry

KPMG LLP

The Kraft Heinz Company

The Kroger Co.

Kutak Rock LLP

L Brands Inc.

L3 Harris Technologies

Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings

Lam Research Corp.

Lane Powell PC

Latham & Watkins LLP

Leidos Holdings

Lendlease Americas Inc.

LENOVO (UNITED STATES) INC.

Leo Burnett Company Inc.

Levi Strauss & Co.

LexisNexis Legal & Professional

Lexmark International Inc.

Liberty Mutual Group

Lincoln National Corp.

LinkedIn

Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.

Littler Mendelson PC

Live Nation Entertainment Inc.

Locke Lord LLP

Lockheed Martin Corp.

Loeb & Loeb LLP

Lord, Abbett & Co. LLC

L’Oreal USA Inc.

Lowenstein Sandler LLP

Lowe’s Companies Inc.

LPL Financial Holdings Inc.

Lumen Technologies

Lyft Inc.

M&T Bank Corp.

Macmillan Learning

Macmillan Publishing Group

Macquarie Group Ltd.

Macy’s Inc.

Mallinckrodt LLC

Manatt, Phelps & Phillips LLP

ManpowerGroup

Marathon Petroleum Corp.

Marriott International Inc.

Mars Inc.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Inc.

Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co.

Mastercard

Mathematica Policy Research

Mattel Inc.

Mayer Brown LLP

McDermott Will & Emery LLP

McDonald’s Corp.

McGraw Hill LLC

McKesson Corp.

McKinsey & Co. Inc.

Medallia Inc.

Medidata Solutions Inc.

Medtronic PLC

Meijer Inc.

Merck

Mesirow Financial Holdings Inc.

MetLife Inc.

MGM Resorts International

Michael Best & Friedrich LLP

Michael Page International Inc

Micron Technology Inc.

Microsoft Corp.

Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky & Popeo PC

Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams

Molson Coors Brewing

Mondelēz International Inc.

Montgomery McCracken Walker & Rhoads LLP

Moody’s Corp.

Moore & Van Allen PLLC

Morgan Stanley

Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP

Morningstar Inc.

Morris, Manning & Martin LLP

Morrison & Foerster LLP

Motorola Solutions Inc.

MSLGROUP Americas

MUFG Union Bank, N.A.

Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP

NASDAQ Inc.

National CineMedia Inc.

National Grid USA

Nationwide

NCR Corp.

Nestlé Purina PetCare Co.

Nestlé USA Inc.

Nestlé Health Science

Nestlé Waters North America Inc.

Netflix Inc.

Neuberger Berman Group LLC

New Belgium Brewing Company

New York Life Insurance Company

Newell Brands Inc.

Newmont Corp.

Nielsen

Nike Inc.

Nixon Peabody LLP

Nokia Inc.

Nomura

Nordstrom Inc.

Northern Trust Corp.

Northrop Grumman Corp.

Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance

Norton Rose Fulbright

NortonLifeLock

Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp.

Nuance Communications

NVIDIA Corp.

Ocean Spray Cranberries Inc.

Office Depot Inc.

The Ogilvy Group Inc.

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart

O’Melveny & Myers LLP

Omnicom Group

ONEOK Inc.

Oracle Corp.

Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP

Otis Worldwide Corporation

Owens Corning

Palo Alto Networks

Papa John’s International Inc.

Patagonia Inc.

Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP

Paul Hastings LLP

PayPal Holdings Inc.

Peapod Digital Labs LLC

Pearson

Peloton Interactive Inc.

PepsiCo Inc.

Perkins and Will Inc.

Perkins Coie LLP

Pernod Ricard USA LLC

Pfizer Inc.

PG&E Corp.

Philips

Phillips 66

Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP

PIMCO LLC

Pinterest Inc.

Pitney Bowes Inc.

The PNC Financial Services Group Inc.

Polsinelli

Portland General Electric Co.

PPL Corp.

PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP

Principal Financial Group

Procter & Gamble Co.

Proskauer Rose LLP

Prudential Financial Inc.

Publicis Healthcare Communications

Publicis Inc.

Publicis Media

Publicis Sapient

PVH Corp.

Quaintance-Weaver Management, LLC

QUALCOMM Inc.

Quantcast Corp.

Quarles & Brady LLP

Quest Diagnostics Inc.

Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP

Qurate Retail Group

Rackspace Technology

Ralph Lauren Corp.

Randstad USA

Raymond James Financial Inc.

Raytheon Technologies Corp.

RBC Capital Markets LLC

RBC Wealth Management

Re:Sources USA Inc.

Reed Smith LLP

Regions Financial Corp.

Relias LLC

Replacements Ltd.

Restaurant Brands International

Retail Business Services

Reynolds American Inc.

RingCentral Inc.

Robert Half

Robert W. Baird & Co. Incorporated

Robins Kaplan LLP

Roche Diagnostics Corp.

Rockland Trust Co.

Rockwell Automation Inc.

Rolls-Royce North America (USA) Holdings Co.

Ropes & Gray LLP

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.

RSM US LLP

S&P Global Inc.

S.C. Johnson & Son Inc.

Saatchi & Saatchi North America Inc.

Salesforce

Samsung Electronics America Inc.

Sanofi

SAP America Inc.

Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr LLP

Schiff Hardin LLP

Schulte, Roth & Zabel LLP

Science Applications International Corp.

Seacoast National Bank

Seagate Technology plc

Sempra Energy

Sephora

ServiceNow

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Shake Shack Inc.

Shearman & Sterling LLP

Shell Oil Co.

Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP

Shook, Hardy & Bacon LLP

Sidley Austin LLP

Siemens Corp.

Siemens Healthineers USA

Siemens Medical Solutions USA Inc.

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP

SIRIUS XM + Pandora

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

Slalom

Snell & Wilmer

Société Générale

Sodexo Inc.

Softchoice Corp.

Sony Corporation of America

Sony Electronics Inc.

Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC

Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc.

Southern Co.

Southwest Airlines Co.

SPARC Group LLC

Splunk Inc.

Squire Patton Boggs

Standard Chartered

Standard Insurance Co.

Stanley Black & Decker Inc.

Staples Inc.

Starbucks Corp.

State Farm Group

State Street Corp.

Steelcase Inc.

Steptoe & Johnson LLP

Stinson LLP

Stoel Rives LLP

The Stop & Shop Supermarket Company, LLC

Stryker Corp.

Subaru of America Inc.

Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation

Sun Life

Synchrony

T. Rowe Price Associates Inc.

Takeda Pharmaceuticals USA Inc.

Tapestry Inc.

Target Corp.

TD Ameritrade

TD Bank, N.A.

TD Securities (USA) LLC

TDS Telecommunications, LLC

TE Connectivity Inc.

Tech Data Corp.

TEGNA Inc.

Tesla Inc.

Teva Pharmaceutical USA Inc.

Texas Instruments Inc.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.

Thompson Coburn LLP

Thompson Hine LLP

Thomson Reuters

TIAA

Tiffany & Co.

T-Mobile USA Inc.

Toyota Motor North America Inc.

TPG Global LLC

The Transamerica Corp.

TransUnion

The Travelers Companies Inc.

TripAdvisor Inc.

Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders LLP

Truist Financial

Tufts Health Plan

Turner Construction Co.

Twitter Inc.

U.S. Bancorp

U.S. Cellular

Uber Technologies Inc.

UBS AG

UKG (Ultimate Kronos Group)

Under Armour Inc.

Unilever

United Airlines Holdings, Inc.

United Parcel Service Inc.

United Services Automobile Association

United States Steel Corp.

UnitedHealth Group Inc.

Univar Solutions Inc.

University of Phoenix

Univision Communications Inc.

Unum Group

UPMC Health Plan

Vanguard Group Inc.

Verizon Communications Inc.

VERMEG SARL

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc.

VF Corp.

ViacomCBS

Vinson & Elkins LLP

Virgin Orbit

Visa

VMLY&R

VMware Inc.

Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP

Vox Media Inc.

Voya Financial

W.W. Grainger Inc.

Waddell & Reed Financial Inc.

Walgreen Co.

Walmart Inc.

The Walt Disney Co.

Warby Parker

Warner Music Group

Wawa Inc.

Wayfair

WE Communications

Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP

WellCare Health Plans Inc.

Wellmark Inc.

Wells Fargo & Co.

The Wendy’s Co.

West Monroe Partners LLC

Western Digital Corp.

WestRock

Whirlpool Corp.

White & Case LLP

Wiley Rein LLP

William Blair & Company LLC

Williams Mullen Clark & Dobbins

Willis Towers Watson

Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP

Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale & Dorr LLP

Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati PC

Winston & Strawn LLP

Womble Bond Dickinson (US) LLP

Workday Inc.

WPP Group USA

Wyndham Destinations

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts Inc.

Xcel Energy Inc.

Xerox Corp.

Xylem Inc.

Yelp Inc.

Yext Inc.

Zendesk Inc

Zillow Group

Zoetis Inc.

ZS Associates Inc.

Appendix A: Employer Ratings

All official and unofficial ratings for the 2021 Corporate Equality Index in alphabetical order. To view employer score detail, please visit www.hrc.org/cei/search.

Download

CEI 2021 Employer Ratings

Download 2021 CEI Employer Ratings

Acknowledgements

The Human Rights Campaign Business Advisory Council was founded in 1997. Members provide expert advice and counsel to the HRC Workplace Equality Program on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer workplace issues based on their business experience and knowledge.

Mostafa Abdelguelil
(he/him)
Council Co-Chair
Senior Manager, Diversity & Inclusion Capital One

John Barry
(he/him)
Vice President & Relationship Manager, Global
Funds Services
Northern Trust Corp.

Wyndolyn (Wendy) C. Bell, MD
(she/her)
UnitedHealthcare (retired)

Richard Clark
(he/him)
Chief Accounting Officer
Accenture Ltd.

Lori Fox
(she/her)
President & Founder
Lori Fox Diversity Consulting

Lanaya Irvin
(they/them/she/her)
Council Co-Chair
CEO
Coqual

Linda Jolly
(she/her)
Vice President and Corporate Secretary
Corning Incorporated

Michael Lopez
(he/him)
Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer
Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Willard L. McCloud, III
(he/him)
Vice President - Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Zimmer Biomet

Karen Morgan
(she/her)
Fleet Support Senior Operations Manager
GE

Carlos Orta
(he/him/el)
Head of Strategic Growth & Program Development
DiversityInc

Michelle Phillips
(she/her)
Partner
Jackson Lewis PC

Scott Sapperstein
(he/him)
Assistant Vice President, Public Affairs & Strategic Alliances
AT&T

Corey Smith
(he/him)
Director, Global Diversity & Inclusion
NIKE

Steve Smotherman
(he/him)
Founder & President
Steve Smotherman Consulting LLC

Bob Witeck
(he/him)
President & Founder
Witeck Communications, Inc.

About the Workplace Equality Program

The Corporate Equality Index. is a project of the Workplace Equality Program at the Human Rights Campaign Foundation. In addition to the CEI, the Workplace Equality Program researches, develops and advocates for greater equity and inclusion for LGBTQ workers at the federal, state and local levels, and provides support to employers seeking to enhance LGBTQ inclusion via education, training, policy and consulting assistance.


Meet the Workplace Equality Program Team

alt

Beck Bailey (he/him) is the Director of the Workplace Equality Program at the Human Rights Campaign Foundation and the author of the CEI. In addition to managing the development and publication of the Corporate Equality Index, he oversees the team’s projects related to LGBTQ workplace inclusion including research on the experience of LGBTQ people at work, LGBTQ diversity & inclusion training and education, and mobilizing businesses to support LGBTQ inclusion in the public square. Prior to his work at HRC, Beck spent more than 25 years in the private sector focused primarily on operations and organizational change management. He holds an MBA from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and a BS in Management from Virginia Tech. He proudly sits in the Board of Directors for Reaching Out MBA.

RaShawn Hawkins, SHRMCP (she/her) is the Deputy Director of the WorkplaceEquality Program at the Human Rights Campaign Foundation. As Deputy Director, RaShawn leads the team’s work to create tools for employers to deepen their LGBTQ inclusion efforts including training & education programs, policy guidance and employee engagement resources. Prior to joining HRC, RaShawn worked in corporate Human Resources roles including Learning & Development. She holds a BA in Interdepartmental Studies from University of Iowa.

alt
alt

Milagros Chirinos (she/her) is the Associate Director of Global Business Programs for the HRC Foundation. As Associate Director, Milagros leads HRC’s Equidad MX and CL — two in-country programs designed to promote LGBTQinclusive workplaces in Mexico and Chile respectively. In her four-year tenure, Milagros has deepened HRC’s fieldwork in the Latin American region and has played a leadership role expanding the HRC Global Business programs. Milly was born in Lima, Peru and started her professional career in media and journalism in South Florida. She holds a master’s degree in Hispanic Literature and Culture from the University of South Florida and is currently pursuing a Master of Business Administration from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Raina Nelson (they/them) is the Manager of the Corporate Equality Index for the HRC Foundation and co-author of the CEI. In this role, theyengage directly with employers nationwide to identify and improve LGBTQ-inclusive policies, practices and benefits. Raina also manages all aspects of the CEI database and survey implementation. Before joining HRCF, Raina began their professional career conducting research on gender equity in education and the workplace. Raina graduated from New College of Florida with a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science with a focus on the intersection of social identity and U.S. political ideology.

alt
alt

Courtney Stanford (she/her) is the Assistant for the Workplace Equality Program at the Human Rights Campaign Foundation. In this role, she fields questions from employers and employees nationwide about the CEI process, works on CEI survey review, and provides logistical support for the entire Workplace Equality Program team. Courtney holds a BA in International Studies and a minor in Environmental Policy from the University of South Florida.


Special Thanks

Thank you to Jay Brown, Senior Vice President for Programs, Research and Training at the Human Rights Campaign Foundation for his leadership and stewardship of the Workplace Equality Program.

Thank you to HRC staff Elizabeth Bibi, Aryn Fields, Jon Groat, Wes Jones, Savonne Pearson, Tarine Wright, Emily Simeral Roberts, Carolyn Simon and Kelli Stam for communication, press and media guidance.

Thank you to Alec Carrasco, Sam Putnam and Katie Wetstone for their database knowledge and expertise. They always find a way to make everything work.

Thank you to Robert Villaflor and Ashley Sudney for editorial and design guidance.

Thank you to Asia Arminio, Molly Meegan, Cathryn Oakley, David Stacy and Sarah Warbelow for legal and policy guidance.

We would like to express our gratitude for all our HRC colleagues for their collaboration, teamwork and support.

The Corporate Equality Index 2021 was beautifully and efficiently designed by Tony Frye Design.