Corporate Equality Index 2023-2024

Message from the HRC Foundation President

It is with a profound sense of gratitude, a heart full of determination and a clear vision of the work ahead that I am proud to announce the 21st Corporate Equality Index (CEI) report. This year, an unprecedented 842 businesses have stepped up, earning the highest marks for their commitment to LGBTQ+ equality. This isn't just a number; it's a powerful statement about where we stand as a society and where we need to head.

Back in 2002, when this journey began, only 13 companies reached the top score. Today, we're celebrating not just growth but a deepening commitment to true equality. This report is more than a set of scores. It's a roadmap for ensuring that every LGBTQ+ individual has a fair chance to succeed in the workplace, backed by policies and practices that recognize their worth and dignity.

As we mark two decades of progress, our mission evolves to meet the ever-changing challenges facing the LGBTQ+ community. This year, we're expanding our focus to include areas like LGBTQ+ family formation rights, enhanced transgender-inclusive healthcare, intersectional analyses of workplace dynamics, comprehensive gender transition guidelines, and better access to LGBTQ+ healthcare resources. These aren't just policy changes; they're life-changing actions that make a real difference.

The Corporate Equality Index is a critical tool in this fight. It reaches across industries, influencing Fortune 500 companies, major law firms, and countless other businesses. It's about more than compliance; it's about changing hearts and minds, and fostering workplaces where everyone, regardless of who they love or how they identify, is valued and respected.

In this year's report, we're seeing incredible momentum, with 128 new companies joining our cause. This is a clear sign that our message is resonating, that businesses are recognizing the value and necessity of inclusivity.

However, let's be clear: there's still much work to be done. The ongoing State of Emergency for LGBTQ+ folks is a glaring reminder that our fight for equality and justice is far from over. We must continue to push, to advocate, and to demand policies and practices that ensure true equality for all.

As you read through this report, see it as more than a summary of progress. It's a call to action. We must recommit ourselves to the fight for a world where every LGBTQ+ person can live freely, without fear, and with the full rights and recognition they deserve. The path toward liberation and equality is long, but together, we can build a future where everyone, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity, has a fair and equal chance to thrive.

Kelley Robinson (she/her/hers) , President , Human Rights Campaign Foundation

In this 21st edition of the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s Corporate Equality Index, HRC implemented a new and more robust survey for employers nationwide.

As we move into our third decade of impacting workplaces on the behalf of LGBTQ+ workers and their families, HRC has once again raised the bar for what it means to be a corporate ally for LGBTQ+ inclusion. This year’s survey was harder than ever before. During this year’s survey cycle, we saw state legislators attack our transgender and non-binary community members and we saw extremists in opposition of LGBTQ+ equality, take aim at our corporate partners. These attacks were geared towards removing protections for LGBTQ+ people and attacking LGBTQ+ workers' ability to exist in society as their true selves, beyond the workplace. Even in this State of Emergency for LGBTQ+ people, corporations rose to the challenge and continued their commitment to maintaining and improving upon their workplace environments to be inclusive of all employees. This year's CEI survey saw 545 businesses meet the evolved criteria, earning all 100 points and HRCs 2023-2024 “Equality 100 Award'' as a Leader in LGBTQ+ Workplace Inclusion. HRC knows it takes a lot of hard work and internal champions to meet the new standards of the CEI and many companies are well into their journey to earn top scores on the tool. This year we have more companies scoring 90 or higher than ever before. This shows that the nation’s top employers are serious about their commitment to inclusion and that the CEI is the foundational blueprint utilized by employers to help them on that journey.

Top-rated CEI employers come from nearly every industry and region of the United States and represent employers in all 50 states. To earn top ratings, employers took concrete and dedicated steps to establish and implement comprehensive policies, benefits, and practices that ensure greater equity for LGBTQ+ workers and their families. The current CEI rating criteria had 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 companies with a score of 100, in comparison to the 545 companies that, as of this edition, earned a perfect score.

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 mid- to large-sized businesses that are publicly- or privately-held.

The CEI helps guide the wide-scale adoption of LGBTQ+ specific practices and language within existing business structures. For example, where businesses enumerate federally protected categories of workers in their non-discrimination 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 that 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 of the many prior participants, the 2023-2024 CEI shows a significant growth in the number of newly participating businesses. This year’s report contains 128 new businesses from over 35 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.

This year HRC declared a State of Emergency: How 2023 impacted progress

This year, for the first time in HRC’s more than 40 year history, we officially declared a state of emergency for LGBTQ+ people in the U.S. In 2023 LGBTQ+ people faced an unprecedented and dangerous spike in anti-LGBTQ+ legislative assaults in state houses all over the country. More than 605 anti-LGBTQ+ bills have been introduced in 41 states and over 220 of those bills explicitly targeted the transgender community, particularly trans and nonbinary youth. Many of these bills aimed to limit or restrict access to gender affirming care for transgender and nonbinary minors, creating barriers to access safe and age appropriate medical care. Some of this legislation also aims to limit access to gender affirming care for adults. 86 of those have passed into law this year alone, more than doubling 2022’s number which was previously the worst year on record for legislative attacks.

Anti-LGBTQ+ legislation creates real, measurable, and tangible strain on business operations broadly and individual workers and their families.

HRC's analysis of the 17th Annual LGBTQ+ Community Survey, fielded this year with over 14,000 LGBTQ+ adults from all 50 states and Washington, DC, found that nearly 80% of LGBTQ+ adults report gender-affirming care bans make them feel less safe and 1 in 3 LGBTQ+ adults would consider moving from a state that enacted a ban like this.This rise in anti-LGBTQ+ legislation and rhetoric is rooted in well-coordinated, well-funded opposition groups who have also exploited the historic pro-equality support of the business community in order to advance their policy goals that roll back protections for LGBTQ+ people.

The truth remains that pro-LGBTQ+ legislation engenders real, measurable, and tangible benefits for LGBTQ+ workers and employees with LGBTQ+ family members. And, the American public has never been more out and allied, with pro-equality sentiments at some of the highest rates ever. More people are openly identifying as LGBTQ+ today than ever before. HRC’s Future-proofing Business Report states Gen Z and Millennials continue to represent larger shares of the population, the size of the openly LGBTQ+ and pro-equality workforce will only continue to grow. In addition to being more likely to identify openly as LGBTQ+ themselves, these younger generations hold more pro-equality, LGBTQ+ affirming attitudes and beliefs than older generations, especially in the workplace. Research shows that U.S. employees are 4.5 times more likely to want to work at a company if it publicly supports and demonstrates a commitment to expanding and protecting LGBTQ+ rights. On the flipside, research shows that more than 52% of Gen Z and millennials who were unsatisfied with the progress their current organization was making in creating a diverse and inclusive environment stated they intended to leave their job within two years. The current and emerging workforce is looking to employers to use their platforms to advocate for those who have been historically marginalized in the workplace and in society; especially BIPOC, transgender, and nonbinary people within the larger LGBTQ+ community.

Employers that actively stay engaged in tools that inform how they can show up better for LGBTQ+ workers and their families, both inside and outside of the workplace, are among the most successful companies. HRC has been tracking corporate progress on LGBTQ+ inclusion through the CEI for over 20 years, and each year the number of participants grows. Active participants share that they experience higher brand recognition and better brand reputation, greater success with recruiting and retaining talent, and increased sales and customer loyalty. The business case for workplace inclusion is clear - it is not only the right thing to do, it's imperative for business growth and success now and in the years to come.

Key Findings

Despite the opposition's efforts to remove access to care and other basic human rights for LGBTQ+ people and to stop corporations from championing LGBTQ+ inclusion, 545 businesses earned 100 points on the 2023-2024 CEI, earning a designation as “Equality 100 Award: Leaders in LGBTQ+ Inclusion”.

This year’s CEI reflects substantial growth in LGBTQ+ workplace equality and inclusion measures. HRC’s continued commitment to advancing inclusion in everyday lives of LGBTQ+ workers and that is why this year’s survey requires more of businesses than ever before. Since HRC announced the criteria evolution for the CEI in early 2022, companies have taken tremendous strides to meet this new criteria. These include policies that assist leaders when some on their team is transitioning, to employers providing opportunities for LGBTQ+ employees to self disclose and includes new resources that help LGBTQ+ employees learn what benefits are available to them without outing themselves. Companies are establishing essential policies that create safe and affirming workplace environments for all.

Topline Findings from New Criteria

Transgender Inclusion in the Workplace: Healthcare and Beyond

The most considerable progress measured over the 20-year history of the CEI, is the wide-scale adoption of transgender-inclusive initiatives by participating businesses. These initiatives provide a more holistic approach to transgender inclusion in the workplace, it goes beyond inclusive healthcare offerings.

A full 90 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). Notably, 95 percent of the entire CEI universe of businesses offer explicit gender identity non-discrimination protections (up from 5 percent in 2002).

73 percent of the Fortune 500 and 94 percent of all CEI-rated businesses (1298 of 1384 offer transgender-inclusive health insurance coverage, up from 0 per cent in 2002 – 25 times as many businesses as in 2009. 108 new employers offer this coverage according to the 2023-2024 report.

This year, in order to achieve top rating on the CEI, employers must provide gender transition guidelines to establish best practices in transgender inclusion in the workplace. More than six in ten of CEI-rated businesses offer robust diversity and inclusion programs that specifically include training on gender identity. Today, hundreds of employers also equip managers with gender transition guidelines, a set of considerations and protocols for transitioning employees. Over 974 major employers reported the adoption of these guidelines in the 2023-2024 CEI.

Employees shouldn’t have to “out” themselves or have uncomfortable conversations with leadership when important life events occur in order to get access to applicable information, especially for LGBTQ+ employees. Creating a comprehensive guide that showcases what benefits that impact LGBTQ+ employees and their families is essential. That is why an LGBTQ+ benefits guide is now part of the CEI criteria. 63% of our rated companies rose to the challenge and created LGBTQ+ benefits guides to ensure all employees know what inclusive benefits and services their employer provides.

Equality at the Fortune-Ranked Companies

173 OF THE FORTUNE 500-RANKED BUSINESSES achieved a 100 point rating , with 15 of the top 25 Fortune-ranked businesses at this top score. 91 percent of the Fortune 500 include “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” in their nondiscrimination policies. Over 77 percent of Fortune 500 companies offer transgender-inclusive healthcare benefits.

In this year's report, 378 of Fortune 500 businesses have official CEI ratings based on submitted surveys , with an average rating of 86. The Fortune 1000, a list of the largest publicly-traded and privately-held companies in the United States, was invited to take part in the Corporate Equality Index survey for the thirteenth year in a row.

Accelerating Global Equality

The business case for equality knows no borders

Although the push for LGBTQ+ inclusive workplaces began largely as an undertaking within the United States and Europe, the conversation around inclusivity is now pointedly more prominent among international stakeholders. The bottom line is undeniable – in a global marketplace, equality knows no borders.

Working hand-in-hand with both U.S.-based and international businesses, HRC made the case that inclusion efforts did not have to be contained to any one border. With many multinational companies employing persons outside of the United States, HRC encouraged CEI participants to consider how their adopted inclusive policies and practices could and would impact their workforces in countries with less tolerant legal and cultural stances towards LGBTQ+ communities.

To this effort, 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 more widespread 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 companies extended their LGBTQ+ inclusive nondiscrimination policies globally. With the 2023-2024 CEI, 65 percent of rated companies have global operations and over 99 percent extend those protections globally.

The process towards LGBTQ+ inclusion does not end with nondiscrimination policies. Companies continue to amplify their global LGBTQ+ inclusion efforts through the targeted expansion of equitable benefits and inclusive practices. Globally, companies are adopting critical benefits such as domestic partner recognition and transgender-inclusive healthcare benefits, as well as organizational training and capacity building. These companies are also deepening employee engagement efforts by expanding employee resource groups for LGBTQ+ workers and their allies.

In the past, and for this 2023-2024 edition, the CEI survey collected 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 the HRC Foundation, we use the acronym “LGBTQ+” to represent the diversity of the greater lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer communities. We recognize that 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.}

Spotlight: HRC's Equidad(e) Programs

Thanks to HRC’s work with companies located within the United States, hundreds of thousands of LGBTQ+ employees and their families benefit from inclusive workplace policies, practices, and benefits. Following the unprecedented success of the CEI, many United States-based multinational companies became eager to replicate inclusive practices across their global footprint, leading to the HRC Foundation expanding into the business community in the Americas.

With the CEI as a model, HRC established a formal program aimed at growing 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 Alianza por la Diversidad e Inclusión Laboral (ADIL) to officially launch the HRC Equidad MX: Workplace Equality Program in 2016. Since its inception, the pioneering program has experienced substantial growth in promoting LGBTQ+ 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. This year, 253 employers earned top ratings and the HRC Foundation’s designation of “Best Places to Work for LGBTQ+ Equality” or “Mejores Lugares para Trabajar LGBTQ+'' in the 2023 HRC Equidad MX report. This represents a 4 percent increase in the number of top-scoring employers over the prior year and, given that the initial report had 32 top-scorers, an almost 700 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 LGBTQ+ inclusive policies and protections among Chilean businesses and corporations through HRC Equidad CL. The program launched in 2018, the Chilean-based program assessed 31 companies in its inaugural 2019 report and 15 of them received the HRC Foundation’s designation of “Mejores Lugares para Trabajar LGBT.” For the report in 2023, the program grew by 16 percent, rating a total of 157 companies with 57 earning top scores.

Based on the success of the Equidad Programs in Mexico and Chile, the HRC Foundation expanded its efforts in South America to both Argentina and Brazil in 2021. Equidad AR was developed in partnership with Instituto de Políticas Públicas LGBT, and the number of participating companies has grown 43 percent, from 63 companies in its inaugural year to 76 companies in 2023. Of these, 49 earned the top score, a 123 percent increase from the 22 top scorers in 2023. Equidade BR, our first Portuguese-language program, was established with Instituto Mais Diversidade. In 2023, the program grew by 52 percent, rating a total of 91 companies with 57 earning the maximum score, a 50 percent increase from the 38 top scorers and 60 participating companies in 2022. To date, 622 companies are participating in the Equidad/e programs across Latin America and we look forward to increasing our engagement over the coming year.

We invite all companies that have operations in Mexico, Chile, Brazil, and Argentina to encourage their regional counterparts to participate in our global programs and extend their support for LGBTQ+ inclusion in the workplace throughout the region. Through the CEI, Equidad MX, Equidad CL, Equidad AR, and Equidade BR 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 www.hrc.im/GlobalWorkplacePrograms

THE CORPORATE EQUALITY INDEX 2023-2024 asked participants a series of questions about LGBTQ+ inclusive policies, practices and benefits. These questions work to assess four 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.

Criteria 1: Workforce Protections

Include sexual orientation
Include gender identity

Criteria 2: Inclusive Benefits

Spousal and domestic partner, medical, and other benefits
Inclusive family formation benefits
Transgender-inclusive health insurance
LGBTQ+ Benefits Guide

Criteria 3: Supporting an Inclusive Culture

LGBTQ+ internal education and training best practices
LGBTQ+ Data Collection
Transgender Inclusive best practices
LGBTQ+ employee resource group or diversity council

Criteria 4: Corporate Social Responsibility

Efforts in Outreach and Engagement to broader LGBTQ+ community
LGBTQ+ corporate social responsibility-supplier standards and philanthropic giving guidelines.

Criteria 1: Workforce Protections

THE WORKFORCE PROTECTIONS criteria of the CEI call for a written employment non-discrimination policy across all operations that includes both “sexual orientation” and “gender identity”. 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 non-discrimination policies. The 2020 SCOTUS ruling of Bostock v. Clayton County, cemented federal protections for LGBTQ+ workers, that discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity is a form of sex discrimination prohibited by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

of CEI participants (1340 of 1384 respondents) documented that they include “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” in their employment non-discrimination 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,
Employers are kept space with changing legal and public opinion landscapes.

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

The Bostock Decision & the CEI

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.

The decision was major news for the LGBTQ+ community and had implications that can 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.

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.

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 can 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 (non-transgender) people, 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 beyond their right to marry that continue to affect LGBTQ+ individuals’ freedom.

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. In December 2022, the U.S. Senate passed the Respect for Marriage Act (RMA) — a bill that will codify federal marriage equality by guaranteeing the federal rights, benefits and obligations of marriages in the federal code; repeal the discriminatory Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA); and affirm that public acts, records and proceedings should be recognized by all states. By doing so, it protects the status quo that exists following the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark rulings in Loving v. Virginia (1967), Windsor v. United States (2013) and Obergefell v. Hodges (2015) — decisions that together made equal marriage the law of the land.

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. 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.

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. Employers have increasingly recognized the value of providing necessary benefits to meet the needs of their diverse workforces.

In total, 962 businesses met the standard in this year’s survey. The CEI continues to reflect best practices for LGBTQ+ workers and their families.

of CEI participants (962 of 1384 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 not just to mitigate one or more exclusions but also to 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 (1298 of 1384 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 1298 businesses with at least one inclusive plan, 1231 also eliminated all exclusions across plans.

Growth of Trans Benefits Over Time

Criteria 3: Supporting an Inclusive Culture

LGBTQ+ Internal Training and Accountability

of CEI-rated employers (861 of 1384 respondents) offer a robust set of practices (at least four 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;
Invisible diversity requires unique training focus and defined safe space programs and resources. Which is why intersectional education is key to any inclusive workplace;
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 four types of organizational competency programs and one of those programs needs to include the core components of intersectionality in the workplace. LGBTQ+ workers hold multiple identities and those who carry more than one historically marginalized identity, move through the world and the workplace with an experience that’s greater than the sum of its parts. That is why we require that businesses provide explicit intersectionality training to their workforce. 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,
Integration of intersectionality in professional development, skills-based or other trainings

of CEI-rated employers (1024 of 1384 respondents) have Managers/Supervisors undergo training that includes gender identity and sexual orientation as discrete topics (this may be a part of a broader training), and provides definitions or scenarios illustrating the policy for each.

of CEI-rated employers (1000 of 1384 respondents) have integrated intersectionality into their training offerings in professional development, skills-based, or other training.

of CEI-rated employers (678 of 1384 respondents) include LGBTQ+ diversity metrics as part of senior management/executive leadership performance standards.

LGBTQ+ Data Collection

It is imperative to the future success of any company to understand the lived experiences of your workers to ensure implemented policies and practices have the intended impact. In order to do so, employers have sought ways to learn more about their workforce to build intentional initiatives that impact every employee in a positive way. Asking your employees to share details about themselves and their families can be seem like a risky thing for some employees, especially collecting data on identities that have historically not been accepted in the workplace or deemed “unprofessional” based on limited and outdated concepts of professionalism, especially those concepts rooted in assimilation versus individuality.

Over the years, companies have employed multiple methods of collecting this data, including employee engagement surveys and employee resource group membership, but these methods are limited and have yielded minimal data on which to base to take action on. Employee engagement surveys are an example of one of those methods. These surveys can include optional questions that allow LGBTQ+ employees to self-identify based on gender identity or sexual orientation. This year, HRC saw a record number of companies collecting LGBTQ+ data from their employees. 832 companies are tracking sexual orientation and gender identity in their human resource information systems (HRIS), which is a 77% increase over the 2022 CEI.

of CEI-rated employers (555 of 1384 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.

of CEI participants(832 of 1384 respondents) allow self-identification in the HRIS system. This is a 77% growth from 2022’s survey.

of CEI-rated employers (450 of 1384 respondents) include LGBTQ+ diversity metrics as part of Board self-identification data collection efforts.

Transgender Inclusion Best Practices

This year, for the first time, the HRC is requiring businesses to take the next step in transgender workplace inclusion. Providing healthcare and wellness benefits the transgender employees and their families is essential to their very lives, but that’s not all employers can do. When businesses are committed to creating safe and inclusive workplaces, that can only be achieved when all employees are included. Adopting inclusive practices in the workplace help foster a more accepting and affirming workplace, especially for the LGBTQ+ community. Policies such as; inclusive dress codes, transgender inclusive restroom and facility policies, and procedures that allow employees to display their chosen name and display their pronouns in directories. These are examples of a few policies employers should review to ensure every employee can see themselves reflected in it.

of CEI-rated employers (974 of 1384respondents) have instituted Gender Transition Guidelines with supportive policies and documentation guidance to proactively support transitioning employees, their managers and their colleagues.

of CEI-rated employers (867 of 1384 respondents) have instituted workplace policies that provide a safe and affirming experience for transgender and non-binary workers. Policies such as trans-inclusive restrooms, gender neutral dress codes and how an employee’s information is displayed, such as procedures for changing names and pronouns throughout company-wide databases.

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Transgender Inclusion in the Workplace: A Toolkit for Employers

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LGBTQ+ Employee Resource Group or Diversity Council

Many large employers have formally recognized employee resource groups (ERGs), also known as employee networks, business resources, or affinity groups, for diverse populations of their workforce, including women, people of color, veterans, parents, people of varied abilities, and LGBTQ+ people and their allies. The purpose of these groups 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.

Employee resource groups 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 policy making, representing the employer at professional events and external activities, participating in prospective employee recruitment efforts, mentoring, and other retention-focused programming.

Employee resource groups that are focused on the LGBTQ+ workforce 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 (1354 of 1384 respondents) have an employee resource group or diversity council that includes LGBTQ+ and allied employees and programming.

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

of those companies with an officially recognized LGBTQ+ employee group (1250 of 1271) 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 group is greatly enhanced by an active executive champion for the group.

of employee groups reported in the CEI (1228 of 1271) are sponsored by an executive champion.

Criteria 4 - Corporate Social Responsibility

Efforts in Outreach and Engagement to Broader LGBTQ+ Community

of CEI-rated businesses (994 of 1384 respondents) met the standard of demonstrating at least five efforts of public commitment to the LGBTQ+ community, an increase from three efforts in the previous survey.

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 as well as;

LGBTQ+ specific recruiting efforts
Philanthropic contributions
LGBTQ+ supplier diversity programs; and,
Public policy weigh-in.
LGBTQ+ inclusive products and services

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;
- A corporate case for LGBTQ+ legal equality: they are on the 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, the Lavender Law Conference, and the Reaching Out MBA (ROMBA) 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 companies experienced budget cuts in DEI programs, CEI-rated businesses remained engaged.

of CEI-rated businesses (613 of 1384 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 (698 of 1384 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 (885 of 1384 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 like 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 are 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 for both the LGBTQ+ owned small businesses and the businesses that contract them.

of CEI-rated businesses with supplier diversity programs (806 of 912) 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 non-discrimination 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. To ensure that suppliers act in a manner that adheres to a business’s own standards, businesses must 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 non-discrimination in place, and 98% of these mandates (1105 of 1131 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 non-religious 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 (1090 of 1384 respondents) have written guidelines that prohibit philanthropic support of non-religious organizations with an explicit policy of discrimination towards LGBTQ+ people.

Learn More About the New Criteria

Defining New Areas of Impact

The Human Rights Campaign Foundation is grateful for the opportunity to raise the bar for LGBTQ+ inclusive workplaces. This criteria adjustment reflects a 20-year history of observation, learning, and growth that the HRC is proud to continue to this day. While we believe that our previous criteria set an ideal benchmark in the past, the current and continuing issues seen within the LGBTQ+ community required us to evolve our criteria to meet the ever-changing needs of the community’s members and their families.

Through these updated areas of impact that expound upon our existing criteria, we hope to elevate the public’s understanding of what an LGBTQ+ inclusive workplace looks and feels like.

New Criteria 1 - Driving Equality in Family Formation

Moving forward, the CEI will contain scoring criteria around family formation that ensure that same- and different-sex legal spouses and domestic partners have equal access to family formation benefits. The areas that will be assessed for equality include:

Adoption;
Cryopreservation (egg freezing for non-medical reasons);
Infertility treatment coverage;
Foster care assistance;
Infertility treatment coverage (outside of in-vitro fertilization);
Fertility/in-vitro fertilization coverage; and,
Surrogacy benefits.

New Criteria 2 - Raising the Standards for Transgender-inclusive Healthcare

Our goal for CEI 2023-2024 was to expand on our goal to move the goalpost regarding equality so that members of the transgender community are not simply given access to healthcare, but can readily receive services, treatment, and care without obstacles. However, 2023 was an unprecedented year for attacks on transgender inclusion. We saw states take aim at removing access to gender affirming care, to banning drag performances. We also saw that the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) released a new version of standards or care in October 2022. Due to these circumstances, HRC made the decision to delay the inclusion of a more robust inclusive healthcare criteria. All companies scored in CEI 2023-2024, have been reviewed against legacy trans-inclusive benefits requirements from CEI 2022’s criteria. HRC will review and determine the best opportunity to activate the expanded criteria in the future.

New Criteria 3 - Supporting an Inclusive Workplace Environment

The CEI will now require that at least one company training, provided to all employees, thoroughly addresses LGBTQ+ intersectionality within the workplace.

We will also be expanding data best practices to ensure that companies provide a confidential way for employees to self-identify at all levels of the company. These best practices will require a company to include the option to self-identify in human resource systems, the option to self-identify in confidential surveys, or the option to provide the members of the board (leadership body) with a means of self-identification.

New Criteria 4 - Maintaining Mandatory Gender Transition Guidelines to Promote and Ensure Gender Inclusivity

Starting from this survey on, in order to be a top scorer on the CEI, companies must mandatorily offer gender transition guidelines. In addition, companies must have one overarching policy on gender inclusivity which includes dress codes, restrooms and facilities, or pronoun and chosen name usage in the workplace (email signatures/meeting/onboarding). The policies must create a more gender-inclusive atmosphere for all employees.

New Criteria 5 - Providing Access to a Comprehensive Guide of Available LGBTQ+ Resources and Services

Finally, companies must provide a guide for family formation, transgender-inclusive healthcare, and HIV services and treatment that is provided annually and upon hire to all employees. This guide must include contact information for relevant and related organizations and/or persons of interest, a full breakdown of the appeals process, a detailed FAQ, and must, ultimately, be comprehensive in its nature. The goal of this guide is to ensure that any employee who may need information on these key topics can readily access it in one, convenient location and will have the tools necessary to easily troubleshoot issues in attaining the healthcare benefits and treatment that they need.

New Criteria Roll-Out

Following the release of this report, the 2023 CEI report will be open for survey submission in the Spring of 2023 and released in November of 2023 to realign with the report’s original release schedule. This realignment will enable the report to be accessible before Black Friday and ensure that the CEI can be used as a tool for consumers and the LGBTQ+ community in making purchasing decisions during the year’s busiest holiday season.

The scheduled roll-out of the new criteria will enable us to devote substantial time, energy, and resources to collaborate with companies in an effort to bring real change to the community.

Spotlight: Corporate Initiatives Including the Count Us In Pledge and Business Coalition for the Equality Act

HRC is proud to partner with leading employers on corporate initiatives that drive equality. These corporate initiatives include the Business Statement on Anti-LGBTQ+ State Legislation with over 300 major employer signatories, the LGBTQ Refugees Mentorship Initiative, and Working Positively, which invites employers to commit to being visible role models in support of HIV-positive employees and other chronic illnesses.

The latest employer activation with HRC is the Count Us In Pledge, an effort to elevate the business sector’s allyship and voice in support of transgender and non-binary people, particularly employees and their families. The pledge, with over 100 large employer signatories, represents a cross-sector commitment to stand in solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community during this unprecedented state of emergency by pledging the following:

To be proud and public LGBTQ+ allies, calling on lawmakers to abandon any efforts to discriminate and reject anti-LGBTQ threats to company values of diversity, equity, and inclusion.
To raise up honest and authentic experiences of LGBTQ+ Americans, including those of employees and customers in the transgender and non-binary community; and
To ensure transgender and non-binary employees and their families have access to the health and medical care they need, where possible under the law.

And one of the largest coalition initiatives is the Business Coalition for the Equality Act. HRC’s Business Coalition for the Equality Act is a group of 552 leading U.S. employers that support the Equality Act, federal legislation that would provide the same basic protections to LGBTQ+ people that are provided to other federally protected groups. Coalition member companies represent nearly every industry, employ over 15.3 million people in the U.S., command over $7.2 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 in housing, credit, and jury service for LGBTQ+ people. The bill also prohibits discrimination in public spaces and services and protects against discrimination in the receipt of federal funding on the basis of sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity.

The historic Obergefell v. Hodges case in 2015 gave same-sex couples the right to marriage, and, since then, state legislators across the country have responded by proposing hundreds of anti-LGBTQ+ bills. However, companies opposed (and still oppose) these discriminatory bills. Over the last seven years, countless companies in all 50 states have spoken out against attempts to undermine LGBTQ+ civil rights. Discriminatory bills that attempt to curb access to public services for transgender people, deny basic services to LGBTQ+ families, or preempt local nondiscrimination ordinances put company employees, employee families, and customers at risk.

CEI-rated employers are on record supporting broad issues of LGBTQ+ equality at the local, state, and federal levels, including through amicus briefs that are submitted during court cases to support pro-LGBTQ+ legislation and rulings.

Private sector support for the federal Equality Act surged within the last two years and, at present, 552 major employers are signatories on HRC’s The Business Coalition for the Equality Act.

1-800-FLOWERS.COM

2U Inc.

3M Company

ABB Inc.

AbbVie Inc.,

Abercrombie & Fitch Co.

Accenture

Adobe Inc.

Advance Auto Parts (Advance Holding)

ADP

Advanced Micro Devices Inc.

Aegon Asset Management

Aflac Inc.

Air Products

Airbnb Inc.

Airbus

Akamai Technologies, Inc.

Alaska Airlines

Albertsons Companies

Alcoa Corp.

AlixPartners LLP

AllianceBernstein, L.P.

Ally Financial Inc.

Altice USA Inc.

Altria Group Inc.

Amalgamated Bank

Amazon.com Inc.

American Airlines

American Eagle Outfitters Inc.

American Electric Power Co. Inc.

American Express Company

American Express Global Business Travel

American Honda Motor Co., Inc.

Ameriprise Financial, Inc.

AMN Healthcare

Amyris, Inc.

Analog Devices, Inc.

Andersen Corporation

Ansys, Inc.

Anywhere Real Estate

Aon PLC

Apple Inc.

Applied Materials Inc.

Arcadis U.S. Inc.

Arconic

ArentFox Schiff LLP

Asana

Ascena Retail Group Inc.

Aspen Skiing Company

Associated Bank

AstraZeneca

Asurion LLC

AT&T Inc.

Atlassian

Autodesk Inc.

AvalonBay Communities Inc.

Avery Dennison Corporation

Avita Care Solutions/QCare+

Avnet, Inc.

BAE Systems Inc.

Bain & Co. Inc./ Bridgespan Group

Baker & McKenzie LLP

Baker Tilly US LLC

Bank of America Corp.

Barclays

Bayer U.S. LLC

BASF Corp.

BCW (Burson Cohn & Wolfe)

BD (Becton, Dickinson and Co.)

BDO USA, LLC

Berkshire Bank

Best Buy Co. Inc.

Billtrust

Biogen

BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc.

Bird Rides Inc.

Black & Veatch Holding Inc.

Black Knight, Inc.

BlackRock

Block Inc.

Bloomberg LP

Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island

Blue Ridge Power

BMC Software Inc.

BNP Paribas

Body Shop, The

Boehringer Ingelheim USA Corp.

Boies Schiller Flexner LLP

Booz Allen Hamilton Inc.

Boston Beer Company

Boston Celtics

Boston Consulting Group

Boston Scientific Corp.

Box Inc.

BP America Inc.

Bread Financial

Bridgestone Americas Holding Inc.

Bridgewater Associates LP

Brigham and Women’s Hospital

Bright Health Group

Bright Horizons

Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.

Broadridge Financial Solutions Inc.

Brooks Sports Inc.

Brown-Forman Corp.

Brown Harris Stevens

Brown Rudnick LLP

Buckley LLP

C.H. Robinson

Caesars Entertainment Corp.

California Water Service Group

Capgemini Americas, Inc.

Capital Group

Capital Markets Company, The

Capital One Financial Corp.

Capri Holdings Limited

Cardinal Health Inc.

CareSource

Cargill Inc.

Cargo Transporters, Inc.

CarGurus, Inc.

Carlson Inc.

Carlyle Group LP, The

Cengage Learning Inc.

Ceridian HCM, Inc.

Cerner Corporation

Chapman and Cutler LLP

Chevron Corp.

Children’s Minnesota

Chime

Chobani

Choice Hotels International Inc.

Chubb Ltd.

CIGNA Corp.

Cisco Systems Inc.

Citigroup Inc.

Citrix Systems Inc.

Clorox Company, The

CME Group Inc.

CNA Financial Corporation

Coca-Cola Co., The

CohnReznick, LLP

Comcast NBCUniversal

Compass

Constellation Energy Group Inc.

Constellations Brands Inc.

Converse Inc.

Core-Mark

CoreLogic

Corning

Corteva Agriscience

Coty Inc.

Cox Enterprises Inc.

Credit Suisse USA Inc.

Crowell & Moring LLP

CSAA Insurance Group

Cue Health

Cummins Inc.

CVS Health Corp.

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

Daniel J. Edelman Holdings

Danone North America

Darden Restaurants Inc.

Day Pitney LLP

Debevoise & Plimpton LLP

Del Monte Foods, Inc.

Dell Technologies Inc.

Deloitte LLP

Delta Air Lines Inc.

Deluxe Corporation

Denny’s Corp.

Depository Trust & Clearing Corp., The

Deutsche Bank

Diageo North America

Dickinson Wright PLLC

Discover Financial Services

Domino’s Pizza

DoorDash, Inc.

Dow Chemical Co., The

Doximity, Inc

Dropbox Inc.

Duke Energy Corp.

Dun & Bradstreet Corp., The

DWS

E&J Gallo Winery

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

E*TRADE Financial Corp.

Eastern Bank Corp.

Eaton Corp.

eBay Inc.

Ecolab Inc.

Edison International

Edward Jones

Elastic NV

Eli Lilly and Company

EMD Serono, MilliporeSigma and EMD Electronics

Emerson Electric Co.

Empower Retirement

Equinix, Inc.

Equitable Financial Life Insurance Company

Ericsson Inc

Ernst & Young LLP

Estée Lauder Companies Inc., The

Etsy, Inc.

Eventbrite

Eversource Energy

Evolent Health Inc.

Exelon Corp.

Expedia Group

FactSet Research Systems Inc.

Fairview Health Services

Fiserv Inc.

FMC Corporation

Food Lion

Ford Motor Company

Fossil Group Inc.

Gap Inc.

GE Appliances, A Haier Company

Gen Digital

General Electric Co.

General Mills Inc.

General Motors Co.

GIANT Food Stores LLC

Giant of Maryland LLC

Gilead Sciences Inc.

Ginkgo Bioworks, Inc.

Glassdoor Inc.

GlaxoSmithKline

GoDaddy Inc.

Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC

Google Inc.

GP Strategies Corporation

Grant Thornton LLP

Great River Energy

Greenway Health, LLC

Greenspoon Marder LLP

Grove Collaborative

Guardian Life Insurance Co. of America, The

Guidehouse Inc.

Guild

Gusto

Harley-Davidson Inc.

Hannaford Supermarkets

Henkel Corporation (North America)

HERE North America LLC

Herrick, Feinstein LLP

Hershey Co., The

Hess Corp.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co.

Hexion

Hilton Inc.

Hiscox USA

Hogan Lovells US LLP

Holland & Knight LLP

Home Depot Inc., The

Honeywell International

Host Hotels & Resorts Inc.

HP Inc.

HSF Affiliates LLC

HSN Inc.

Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP

Husch Blackwell LLP

Hyatt Hotels Corp.

IBM Corp.

ICM Partners

IDEX Corp.

IGT

IHG Hotels & Resorts

IHS Markit Ltd.

IKEA Holding US Inc.

Impossible Foods

Information Resources Inc.

Infosys

Ingersoll-Rand Company

Ingram Micro

Insight Enterprises Inc.

Instacart

Intel Corp.

International Flavors & Fragrances, Inc.

Iron Mountain Inc.

J.Crew Group

J. M. Smucker Co., The

Jacobs Engineering Group, Inc.

Jenner & Block LLP

JetBlue Airways Corp.

John Hancock Financial Services Inc.

Johnson & Johnson

Johnson Controls Inc.

Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL)

JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JSX

Juniper Networks Inc.

Kabbage Inc.

Kaiser Permanente

Kearney Inc.

Kellogg Co.

Keller Williams Realty Inc.

Kenneth Cole Productions Inc.

Kerry

KeyCorp

KIND LLC,

Knot Worldwide, The

KnowBe4, Inc.

Korn Ferry

KPMG LLP

Kraft Heinz Company, The

L3Harris Technologies

Lendlease Americas Inc.

Lennox International

Levi Strauss & Co.

Linden Research Inc.

Lord, Abbett & Co. LLC

Lowenstein Sandler LLP

Lush Fresh Handmade Cosmetics

Lyft Inc.

Macy’s Inc.

Mallinckrodt LLC

ManpowerGroup

Marriott International Inc.

Mars Inc.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Inc.

MassMutual

Mastercard

Match Group, LLC

Mattel Inc.

McAfee

McCormick & Company, Inc.

McDonald’s Corporation

McGraw Hill Education

McKesson Corporation

McKinsey & Co.

McKinstry Co. LLC

Medline Industries, LP

Medtronic PLC

Merck

Meredith Corp.

Rating System and Methodology

Corporate Equality Index 2023-2024

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

Non-discrimination policies across business entities;
Equitable benefits for LGBTQ+ workers and their families; and,
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 seeing a growth in the number of highly-rated employers, the CEI has also seen great success in the reach of the survey. The number of employers officially rated has expanded from 319 original participants to a current participant count of 1384, 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- and privately-traded businesses (2022 Fortune 1,000); and
American Lawyer magazine’s top 200 revenue-grossing law firms (2022 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: 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 CEI publication year by up to two years.

How We Obtain 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, found 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 2023-2024 survey were emailed and mailed in April of 2023 and responses were due back in July of 2023. If a business had previously participated in the CEI, surveys were first sent to the individual(s) 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, if obtaining the contact information for these executives was possible.

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 anti-LGBTQ+ 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 greatest extent possible. Businesses were invited to provide HRC Foundation staff with any additional information or updates before this report went to print.

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 verifiable information to the 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 it with an opportunity to respond and, to the best of its ability, to mitigate the harm done and ensure that no such action would occur in the future. Businesses unwilling to do so would have been penalized up to - 25 points from their overall rating through Criterion 5.

With the rise of extremists attacks on corporate advocacy and a businesses support of the LGBTQ+ community, the Human Rights Campaign revised the CEI’s Responsible Citizenship criterion to provide better guidance on the need for businesses to reaffirm support for the community when facing anti-LGBTQ+ attacks. Employers will receive up to 25 points deducted from their score for a large-scale official or public anti-LGBTQ+ 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:

advocating for public policies or regulations related to LGBTQ+ equality that would be detrimental to employees and their families.
undue influence by a significant shareholder calculated to undermine a business’s employment policies or practices related to its LGBTQ+ employees;
opposing shareholder resolutions reasonably aimed at encouraging the adoption of inclusive workplace policies;
revoking inclusive LGBTQ+ policies or practices;
engaging in proven practices that are contrary to the business’s written LGBTQ+ employment policies.
directing corporate charitable contributions to organizations whose primary mission includes advocacy against LGBTQ+ equality;
failing to uphold established commitments to the LGBTQ+ community resulting from pressure from anti-LGBTQ+ extremists

We define recent records: the time period your current CEI is published until the next CEI report is published, the following survey cycle. This time period is typically 1 year.

Official and Unofficial Ratings

The HRC Foundation may have rated businesses that did not submit a survey for a 2023-2024 rating if the business has 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 to provide 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 111 Fortune-ranked companies for two key reasons:

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

Because LGBTQ+ workers and prospective employees must navigate the gaps in federal and state protections that affect their employment decisions, our staff assesses the research on these non-surveyed businesses through this same lens, ascertaining what we can from publicly available information and applying those findings to our CEI criteria.

No matter the rating, any business that participates in the CEI is taking on a transparent, credible process of LGBTQ+ inclusion. The HRC Foundation commends the employers that have committed to the public and transparent process of the CEI survey and we invite these 111 companies to do the same.

In total, the CEI 2023-2024 contains official ratings for 489 Fortune 500 businesses, 633 Fortune 1000 businesses, 163 law firms and 698 additional major businesses. With the additional 111 Fortune 500 businesses that have unofficial ratings, the total number of rated businesses is 1,496. Findings in the 2023-2024 CEI report are based on the 1,386 officially rated businesses.

Criteria 1

Workforce Protections (5 points possible)

Employment Non-Discrimination

Businesses’ employment non-discrimination policy must include the terms “sexual orientation” and “gender identity or expression” (or “gender identity”) for all operations

5 points

Criteria 2

Inclusive Benefits (50 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

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

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

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

d. LGBTQ+ Benefits Guide. Business must provide an LGBTQ+ inclusive benefits guide for its employees

10 points

25 points

5 points

Criteria 3

Supporting an Inclusive Culture & Corporate Social Responsibility (25 points possible)

a. LGBTQ+ Internal Training and Accountability

Businesses must demonstrate a firm-wide, sustained and accountable commitment to diversity and cultural competency, including at least four of the following elements:

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
Senior management/executive performance measures include LGBTQ+ diversity metrics
Integration of intersectionality in professional development, skills-based, or other training (required for credit)

b. LGBTQ+ Data Collection

Businesses must implement at least one of the following LGBTQ+ data collection efforts

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.
Board (or other governing body) member demographic data collection include the option for individuals to report their sexual orientation and gender identity or self-identity as LGBTQ+

c. Transgender Inclusion Best Practices

Businesses must have both of the following transgender inclusive best practices

Gender transition guidelines with supportive restroom, dress code and documentation guidance
Implementation of the at least one (1) of the following policies or practices
- Trans-inclusive restroom/facilities policy
- Gender-neutral dress code
- Policies/procedures that allow for optional sharing of gender pronouns

d. Employee Group or Diversity Council

Businesses must have either of the following:

LGBTQ+ Employee Resource Group
LGBTQ+ Diversity Council

5 points

10 points

Criteria 4

Corporate Social Responsibility (20)

a. Efforts of Outreach or Engagement to Broader LGBTQ+ Community

Businesses must demonstrate ongoing LGBTQ+ specific engagement that extends across the firm, this includes at least five of the following:

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
LGBTQ+ inclusive products and services

b. LGBTQ+ Corporate Social Responsibility

Businesses must have both of the following:

Contractor/supplier non-discrimination standards
Philanthropic Giving Guidelines

15 points

5 points

Criteria 5

Responsible Citizenship

Employers will receive up to 25 points deducted from their score for a large-scale official or public anti-LGBTQ+ blemish on their recent records. Scores on this criterion are based on information that has come to HRC’s attention related to topics that are harmful to the advancement of LGBTQ+ equality and inclusion.

Up to -25 points

The 2023-2024 “Equality 100 Award” Recipients

THE HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN FOUNDATION IS announcing the rebrand of the CEI’s 100 point distinction. This honor was previously known as “Best Places to Work '' and served as a tool to celebrate companies that made the commitment to LGBTQ+ inclusion and earned a 100 point score on the CEI. However, we know that there is more that companies can do, beyond the policies and best practices outlined by the CEI and the title “Best Places to Work'' didn't accurately capture what it means to be a top scoring company on the index. HRC also wanted to continue to recognize and celebrate companies that are earning that top score of 100 on the new, more robust CEI. HRC is proud to recognize the following 545 businesses that met all the criteria to earn a 100 percent rating and the new designation of being a 2023-2024 “Equality 100 Award: Leaders in LGBTQ+ Inclusion” recipient. 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. We are honored to recognize the following companies:

3M Co.

AbbVie Inc.

Abercrombie & Fitch Co.

Accenture

AECOM

Airbus Americas Inc.

Airlines Reporting Corporation (ARC)

Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld LLP

Alaska Airlines

Alcon Inc

Alight Solutions

AlixPartners LLP

AllianceBernstein LP

Alliant Energy Corp.

Alston & Bird LLP

Altice USA, Inc.

Altria Group Inc.

Amalgamated Bank

Amazon.com Inc.

AMC Entertainment Inc.

American Airlines

American Greetings Corp.

Ameriprise Financial Inc.

AmerisourceBergen Corp.

Amgen Inc.

Anschutz Entertainment Group, Inc.

Aon plc

Apollo Global Management Inc.

Apple Inc.

Applied Materials Inc.

AQR Capital Management LLC

Aramark Corp.

Arcadis U.S. Inc.

Arconic

Ares Management LLC

Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

Arup US, Inc.

Associated Banc-Corp

Assurant

Asurion LLC

AT&T Inc.

Atkore International Inc.

Autodesk Inc.

AvalonBay Communities Inc.

Avantor, Inc.

Avery Dennison

Avita Care Solutions

Axiom Global Inc.

Bain & Co. Inc./ Bridgespan Group

Baker & Hostetler LLP

Baker & McKenzie LLP

Baker Botts LLP

Bank of America Corp.

Barilla America Inc.

BASF Corp.

Battelle Memorial Institute

Bayer U.S. LLC

BDO USA, PC

Beam Suntory

Ben & Jerry's Homemade Inc.

Berkeley Research Group LLC

Best Buy Co. Inc.

Biogen

BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc.

BlackRock

Blank Rome LLP

Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island

Blue Cross Blue Shield Association

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida Inc.

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota

BlueTriton Brands, Inc.

Boeing Co.

Boies Schiller Flexner LLP

Boston Consulting Group

Boston Scientific Corp.

Braze, Inc.

Brighthouse Financial, Inc.

Bristol Myers Squibb

Broadridge Financial Solutions Inc.

Brooks Sports Inc.

Brown Advisory

Brown-Forman Corp.

Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp.

C&S Wholesale Grocers Inc.

Cadence Design Systems

Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP

Caesars Entertainment Inc

Caleres

Cambridge Associates LLC

Capgemini America, INC

Capital Markets Company NV, The

Capital One Financial Corp.

CareFirst Inc.

CareSource

Cargill Inc.

Cargo Transporters Inc.

CarGurus, Inc.

Carlson Inc.

Carlyle Group LP, The

Carnival Corp.

Carrier Global Corporation

CBRE Inc.

Centene Corp.

CGI

Chapman and Cutler LLP

Charles Schwab & Co. Inc.

Chevron Corp.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc.

Choate, Hall & Stewart LLP

Chobani

Citigroup Inc.

Citizens Financial Group

Claire's Stores Inc.

Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP

CME Group Inc.

CNA Financial Corporation

CNO Financial Group Inc.

Coca-Cola Co., The

Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp.

Colgate-Palmolive Co.

Colliers International Holdings (USA) Inc.

Comcast NBCUniversal

Comerica Inc.

Community Care Behavioral Health Organization

Cooley LLP

CooperCompanies

Corning

Coty Inc.

Covington & Burling LLP

Cox Enterprises Inc.

Creative Artists Agency LLC

CrowdStrike Inc.

Cruise

CSAA Insurance Group

Cue Health

Cummins Inc.

Cushman & Wakefield

CVS Health Corp.

Daniel J. Edelman Inc.

Danone North America

Darden Restaurants Inc.

Debevoise & Plimpton LLP

Dechert LLP

Del Monte Foods, Inc.

Dell Technologies Inc.

Deloitte LLP

Deluxe Corp.

Dentons US LLP

Depository Trust & Clearing Corp., The

Designer Brands

Diageo North America

Dickinson Wright PLLC

Dick's Sporting Goods, Inc.

Discover Financial Services

Domino's Pizza Inc.

DoorDash, Inc.

Dorsey & Whitney LLP

Dow

Doximity, Inc.

Duke Energy Corp.

Dun & Bradstreet Corp., The

Dupont de Nemours, Inc.

Eastern Bank Corporation/Eastern Bankshares, Inc.

Eastman Chemical Co.

Eastman Kodak Co.

Eaton Corp.

eBay Inc.

Ecolab Inc.

Edward Jones

Egon Zehnder International Inc.

Electronic Arts Inc.

Eli Lilly & Co.

EMD Serono, MilliporeSigma and EMD Electronics

Empower

Equinix

Ericsson Inc

Ernst & Young LLP

Estée Lauder Companies Inc., The

Etsy Inc.

Eversheds Sutherland (US) LLP

Experian North America

Factor Systems, LLC dba Billtrust

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 Chicago

Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland

Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas

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 St Louis

Fenwick & West LLP

Fidelity Investments

Fidelity National Information Services Inc.

First American Financial Corp.

Fisher & Phillips LLP

Fitch Group Inc.

FMC Corp.

Foley Hoag LLP

Food Lion LLC

Ford Motor Co.

Fortive Corp.

Fredrikson & Byron

Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP

Frost Brown Todd LLC

Fujitsu America, Inc.

Gannett Co. Inc.

Gartner Inc.

GE Appliances

Genentech Inc.

General Mills Inc.

General Motors Co.

Genesco Inc.

Gerson Lehrman Group Inc

Giant Eagle Inc.

Giant of Maryland LLC

Gilbane Building Company

Gilead Sciences Inc.

Global Payments Inc.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc., The

Goodwin Procter LLP

Google Inc.

Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani, LLP

Goulston & Storrs

Government Employees Health Association, Inc.

Grant Thornton LLP

Grantham, Mayo, Van Otterloo & Co. (GMO) LLC

Great River Energy

Greenberg Traurig LLP

Guardian Life Insurance Co. of America, The

H&R Block Inc.

Hannaford Supermarkets

Hanover Insurance Group Inc., The

Hartford Financial Services Group Inc., The

Health Care Service Corp.

Henry Schein Inc.

Hershey Co., The

Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield Delaware

HILTON

Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP

HKS INC.

Hogan Lovells US LLP

Holland & Hart LLP

Holland & Knight LLP

Honeywell International Inc.

Hormel Foods Corp.

HSBC USA

Humana Inc.

Huntington Bancshares Inc.

Huron Consulting Group Inc.

Husch Blackwell LLP

Hyatt Hotels Corp.

Hyve Solutions Corporation

IBM Corp.

IGT

IHG Hotels & Resorts

Illinois Tool Works Inc.

Impossible Foods

Indeed Inc.

Infosys Limited Inc.

Ingredion Inc.

Insight Enterprises Inc.

Instacart

Intel Corp.

Interpublic Group of Companies Inc.

Intuit Inc.

J. M. Smucker Co.

Jacobs Engineering Group Inc.

Janus Henderson Investors

Jenner & Block LLP

Johnson & Johnson

Johnson Controls Inc.

Johnson Financial Group

JPMorgan Chase & Co.

K&L Gates LLP

Kearney

Keurig Dr Pepper Inc.

KeyCorp

Kimberly-Clark Corp.

Kimco Realty Corp.

King & Spalding LLP

Kirkland & Ellis LLP

KKR & Co. LP

Kobre & Kim

Kohler Co.

Korn Ferry

KPMG LLP

Kraft Heinz Company, The

Kroll, LLC

Kutak Rock LLP

L3 Harris Technologies

Lam Research Corp.

Lane Powell PC

Levi Strauss & Co.

Lexmark International Inc.

Liberty Mutual Group

Lincoln National Corp.

Littler Mendelson PC

Lockheed Martin Corp.

Loeb & Loeb LLP

Lord, Abbett & Co. LLC

Lowenstein Sandler LLP

Lowe's Companies Inc.

LPL Financial Holdings Inc.

Lumen Technologies

Lyft Inc.

Macmillan Learning

Macquarie Group Ltd.

Macy's Inc.

Mallinckrodt LLC

ManpowerGroup

Marathon Petroleum Corp.

Marriott International Inc.

Mars Inc.

Marsh & McLennan Companies Inc.

Mastercard

Mathematica Policy Research

Mattel Inc.

McDermott Will & Emery LLP

McDonald's Corp.

McGraw Hill LLC

McKesson Corp.

McKinsey & Co. Inc.

McKinstry Co. LLC

Medallia Inc.

Medtronic PLC

Meijer Inc.

Messer North America, Inc.

Meta Platforms, Inc.

Michael Best & Friedrich LLP

Michael Page International Inc

Micron Technology Inc.

Microsoft Corp.

Milbank LLP

MillerKnoll

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

Moderna Inc.

Molson Coors Beverage Company

Momentive

Moody's Corp.

Moore & Van Allen PLLC

Morgan Stanley

Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP

Morningstar Inc.

Morris, Manning & Martin LLP

Morrison & Foerster LLP

Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP

NASDAQ Inc.

National Grid USA

National Railroad Passenger Corporation

Nationwide

Nestle Health Science

Nestlé USA Inc.

Neuberger Berman Group LLC

New Belgium Brewing Company

New York Life Insurance Company

Nielsen

Nike Inc.

Nixon Peabody LLP

Nomura

Nordstrom Inc.

Northern Trust Corp.

Northrop Grumman Corp.

Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance

Novo Nordisk Inc.

Numerator

O'Melveny & Myers LLP

Omnicom Group

Oracle Corp.

Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP

Oshkosh Corporation

Panasonic Corporation of North America

Paramount

Parsons Corporation

Paul Hastings

PayPal Holdings Inc.

PepsiCo Inc.

Perkins and Will Inc.

Perkins Coie LLP

Pernod Ricard USA LLC

PetSmart LLC

Pfizer Inc.

PGA TOUR, Inc.

Phillips 66

Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP

PIMCO LLC

Pitney Bowes Inc.

Point32health, Inc.

Portland General Electric Co.

PPG Industries Inc.

PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP

Procter & Gamble Co.

Proskauer Rose LLP

Prudential Financial Inc.

QIAGEN LLC

Quarles & Brady LLP

Quest Diagnostics Inc.

Quickbase LLC.

Qurate Retail Group

R1 RCM Inc

Randstad

Raymond James Financial Inc.

Raytheon Technologies Corp.

RBC Wealth Management

Reckitt

Reed Smith LLP

Relias LLC

Relx Inc.

Replacements Ltd.

Restaurant Brands International

Riot Games Inc.

Rivian Automotive

Robert W. Baird & Co. Incorporated

Roche Diagnostics Corp.

Rockland Trust Co.

Ropes & Gray LLP

Ross Stores Inc.

RSM US LLP

S.C. Johnson & Son Inc.

Salesforce

Sally Beauty Holdings Inc.

Samsung Electronics America Inc.

Sanofi

SAP America Inc.

SAS Institute Inc.

Saul Ewing LLP

Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP

Scotts Miracle-Gro Company

Seagate Technology plc

Securian Financial Group Inc.

Sephora

ServiceNow

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Shake Shack Inc.

Shearman & Sterling LLP

Shell USA, Inc.

Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP

Shure Incorporated

Shutterstock Inc.

Sidley Austin LLP

Siemens Medical Solutions USA Inc.

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP

Slalom

Smartsheet

Société Générale

Sodexo Inc.

Softchoice Corp.

SONOS, INC.

Southern Co.

Southwest Airlines Co.

Spencer Stuart

Splunk Inc.

Squire Patton Boggs

Standard Chartered

Stanley Black & Decker Inc.

Starbucks Corp.

State Farm Group

Steelcase Inc.

Stinson LLP

Sun Life

Sweetgreen, Inc.

Synchrony

TD Bank, N.A.

TD Securities (USA) LLC

TD SYNNEX Corporation

Teradata Corp.

Terex Corp.

Teva Pharmaceuticals USA Inc.

Texas Instruments Incorporated

The Bank of New York Mellon Corp.

The GIANT Company

The Neiman Marcus Group Inc.

The ODP Corporation

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.

Thompson Coburn LLP

Thomson Reuters

T-Mobile USA Inc.

TowerBrook Capital Partners

Toyota North America

TPG Global LLC

TransUnion

Travel + Leisure Co.

Travelers Companies Inc., The

Tripadvisor Inc.

Truist Financial

Turnberry Solutions Inc.

U.S. Bancorp

Uber Technologies Inc.

UBS AG

UKG

UL Solutions

Unilever

Union Pacific Corp.

United Launch Alliance

United Natural Foods, Inc.

United Services Automobile Association

United States Steel Corp.

United Talent Agency, LLC

UnitedHealth Group Inc.

Univar Solutions Inc.

UPMC Health Plan

Urban Outfitters Inc.

UW Credit Union

Vanguard Group Inc.

Verizon Communications Inc.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc.

VF Corp.

Victoria's Secret & Co.

Visa

Vizient Inc.

VMware Inc.

Vox Media Inc.

Voya Financial

Vynamic LLC

W. L. Gore & Associates Inc.

W.W. Grainger Inc.

Wabtec Corporation

Walmart Inc.

Walt Disney Co., The

Warby Parker

Warner Music Group

Waters Corp.

WE Communications

Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP

West Monroe Partners LLC

WestRock

Whirlpool Corp.

William Blair & Company LLC

Williams Mullen Clark & Dobbins

Willis Towers Watson

Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP

Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati PC

Winston & Strawn LLP

Womble Bond Dickinson (US) LLP

Workday Inc.

Xcel Energy Inc.

Xerox Corp.

Xylem Inc.

Yahoo! Inc.

Yelp Inc.

Zebra Technologies Corporation

Ziff Davis

Zimmer Biomet Holdings Inc.

Zoetis Inc.

ZS Associates Inc.

Zurich North America

Download

CEI 2023-2024 Employer Ratings

Download 2023-2024 CEI Employer Ratings

To view employer score details,
please visit www.hrc.org/cei/search.

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 (Business Council Co-Chair)
Director, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
Adobe

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

Lanaya Irvin, she/her, they/them (Business Council Co-Chair)
Chief Executive Officer
Coqual

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

Michael Lopez, he/him
Senior Vice President - Inclusion, Diversity & Culture
HSBC

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

Karen Morgan, she/her/they/them
Fleet Support Senior Operations Manager
GE Aviation

Michelle Phillips, she/her
Principal
Jackson Lewis PC

Scott Sapperstein, he/him
Assistant Vice President, Public Affairs
AT&T

Corey Smith, he/him
Leader in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Consultant

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

Alex Rhodes, he/him
Global Diversity & Inclusion Executive and Enterprise LGBTQ* Strategy Lead
Bank of America

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 through education, training, policy, and consulting assistance.

Meet the Workplace Equality Program Team

RaShawn "Shawnie" Hawkins, SHRM-CP (she/her) is the Director for the Workplace Equality Program at HRC Foundation. She has been an advocate and educator on LGBTQ+ workplace inclusion for over 15 years. In this role with HRC, she is responsible for managing key corporate and constituent engagement programs, namely educational resource development, training, ongoing communication platforms and multimedia projects addressing current and emerging LGBTQ+ subjects for advancing workplace inclusion efforts. Before joining the Foundation, she worked in the corporate space as a Human Resources Business Partner and as a Leadership Development professional, designing and implementing training curriculums for organizations across multiple industries like retail and telecommunications. RaShawn holds a BS from the University of Iowa and has a Leading in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion certification from Northwestern University.

Marcos Garcia (he/him) is the Deputy Director of the Workplace Equality Program at the HRC Foundation. In this role he leads the Corporate Equality Index, Daily, Marcos works hand-in-hand with corporate executives to tackle gaps in workplace inclusion and ensure LGBTQ+ inclusive initiatives are implemented appropriately. Prior to this role, Marcos served as the Deputy Director of Healthcare Equality and Data Management at HRC. For ten years, Marcos worked with healthcare executives to address LGBTQ+ inclusion in patient care and workplace inclusion for healthcare employees at hospitals and outpatient healthcare facilities via the Healthcare Equality Index. Marcos holds a Bachelor's Degree in Neuroscience and Behavior from Columbia University in the City of New York.

Carlhey Bolz (she/her) is the Deputy Director of Global Business Engagement for the Workplace Equality Program at the HRC Foundation. In her role, Carlhey leads HRC’s Equidad MX, CL, AR, and Equidade BR—four in-country programs designed to promote LGBTQ-inclusive workplaces in Mexico, Chile, Argentina, and Brazil respectively. Carlhey has over 10 years of project management and stakeholder engagement experience, she previously designed and implemented curriculum for entrepreneurs from across the Western Hemisphere for a fellowship program, she also launched the first global supplier diversity program with women-owned businesses in Japan, and she spent nearly three years in Peru serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer working with rural youth to promote leadership, gender equality, and higher education. Carlhey holds a Master of International Development Policy—with specializations in Latin American and Caribbean Studies and Peace & Conflict Resolution—from the Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University and a Bachelor of Arts in political science and psychology from the University of Arizona.

Raina Nelson (they/them) is the Associate Director of the Corporate Equality Index for the Human Rights Campaign Foundation and co-author of the CEI. In this role, they engage 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.

Treacy Diaz (she/her) is the Workplace Equality Program coordinator at the Human Rights Campaign Foundation. In her role, she manages the CEI inbox fielding questions from employers and employees nationwide about the CEI process, handles the yearly CEI survey review, and provides general support for the Workplace Equality Program. Treacy has many years of experience working for private firms and non-profit organizations regarding civil rights and social justice.

Baylee Wechsler (she/her) is the Global Coordinator for the Workplace Equality Program at the Human Rights Campaign Foundation. In this role, she facilitates the global workplace equality initiatives and provides logistical support for the entire Workplace Equality Program team. Before joining HRCF, Baylee worked in a variety of social justice advocacy spaces. Baylee holds a dual Bachelor’s degree in International Development Studies and Gender Studies and a minor in Spanish Language from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Special Thanks

Thank you to Jay Brown, Chief of Staff, and Eric Bloem, Vice President, Programs and Corporate Advocacy at the Human Campaign Foundation for their leadership and stewardship of the Workplace Equality Program.

Thank you to HRC staff Christopher Huntley, Sam Lau, Hillary Esquina, Laurel Powell, Drew Daniels, Jose Soto, Simon Garcia, and Jared Todd for communication, press and media guidance.

Thank you to Alec Carrasco for his database knowledge and expertise. You always find a way to make everything work.

Thank you to Josette Matoto, Bob Villaflor, and Carly Fox for editorial and design guidance.

Thank you to JoDee Winterhof, Ani Fête-Crews, Cathryn Oakley, David Stacy and Sarah Warbelow for legal and policy guidance.

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

Corporate Equality Index 2023-2024

Message from the HRC Foundation President

In this 21st edition of the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s Corporate Equality Index, HRC implemented a new and more robust survey for employers nationwide.

This year HRC declared a State of Emergency: How 2023 impacted progress

Equality at the Fortune-Ranked Companies

Accelerating Global Equality

The business case for equality knows no borders

Spotlight: HRC's Equidad(e) Programs

Download

Transgender Inclusion in the Workplace: A Toolkit for Employers

Learn More About the New Criteria

Defining New Areas of Impact

New Criteria 1 - Driving Equality in Family Formation

New Criteria 2 - Raising the Standards for Transgender-inclusive Healthcare

New Criteria 3 - Supporting an Inclusive Workplace Environment

New Criteria 4 - Maintaining Mandatory Gender Transition Guidelines to Promote and Ensure Gender Inclusivity

New Criteria 5 - Providing Access to a Comprehensive Guide of Available LGBTQ+ Resources and Services

New Criteria Roll-Out

Spotlight: Corporate Initiatives Including the Count Us In Pledge and Business Coalition for the Equality Act

Rating System and Methodology

Corporate Equality Index 2023-2024

Download

CEI 2023-2024 Employer Ratings

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.

Love conquers hate.

Wear your pride this year.

Cookies in use

Message from the HRC Foundation President

In this 21st edition of the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s Corporate Equality Index, HRC implemented a new and more robust survey for employers nationwide.

This year HRC declared a State of Emergency: How 2023 impacted progress

Equality at the Fortune-Ranked Companies

Accelerating Global Equality

The business case for equality knows no borders

Spotlight: HRC's Equidad(e) Programs

Quintuple Certification

Quadruple Certification

Triple Certification

Double Certification

Download

Transgender Inclusion in the Workplace: A Toolkit for Employers

Learn More About the New Criteria

Defining New Areas of Impact

New Criteria

New Criteria 1 - Driving Equality in Family Formation

New Criteria 2 - Raising the Standards for Transgender-inclusive Healthcare

New Criteria 3 - Supporting an Inclusive Workplace Environment

New Criteria 4 - Maintaining Mandatory Gender Transition Guidelines to Promote and Ensure Gender Inclusivity

New Criteria 5 - Providing Access to a Comprehensive Guide of Available LGBTQ+ Resources and Services

New Criteria Roll-Out

Spotlight: Corporate Initiatives Including the Count Us In Pledge and Business Coalition for the Equality Act

Full list of businesses

Rating System and Methodology

Corporate Equality Index 2023-2024

Scoring Criteria

Download

CEI 2023-2024 Employer Ratings

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.

Love conquers hate.

Wear your pride this year.