A whopping 379 Fortune 500 companies have been actively championing LGBTQ inclusion at work, according to a Human Rights Campaign audit. For its 2022 Corporate Equality Index report, the LGBTQ advocacy group surveyed 1,271 companies about their internal and external commitments to queer people. Top-ranking Fortune 500 businesses that snagged a 100% rating and the award of Best Place to Work for LGBTQ+ Equality 2022 include Walmart, Amazon, Apple, CVS Health, AT&T, Google and Cigna.
The criteria extends beyond "an inclusive culture" and corporate social responsibility to nondiscrimination policies across business entities and equitable benefits for LGBTQ workers and their families. More specifically, HRC graded companies on whether they were driving equality in LGBTQ family formation, were raising the standards for trans-inclusive healthcare by expanding the mandatory service and treatment options, had solidified gender transition guidelines and cultivated best practices for "intersectional examination of workplace inequality" via training and data collection.
LGBTQ competency and the trans healthcare divide
A disparity exists within Fortune 500 companies specifically — between those that chose to participate in the CEI audit and those which abstained. Of those who participated, 100% had U.S. nondiscrimination policies that included sexual orientation and gender identity; of the non-CEI Fortune 500 companies, 76% and 68% included sexual orientation and gender identity, respectively, in their policies.
Likewise, 95% of the participating Fortune 500 companies had already publicly committed to the LGBTQ community; of their nonparticipating peers, none of those companies had public LGBTQ commitments. Of the Fortune 500 companies surveyed by HRC, 95% had organizational LGBTQ competency programs — examples HRC gives include diversity training for all workers, LGBTQ metrics through self-identification programs and gender transition guidelines — whereas 0% of their nonparticipating peers had such resources for their employees.
Further, 74% of participating Fortune 500 companies offered domestic partner benefits and 88% of those companies offered trans-inclusive benefits. No nonparticipating Fortune 500 companies offered trans-inclusive or same-sex partner benefits for their LGBTQ employees.
Why trans-inclusive benefits matter
HRC underscored that LGBTQ-inclusive benefits are critical for talent acquisition and retention. A thorough benefits package would be "equal compensation for equal work," HRC said, and would help employers "keep pace with the changing legal landscape and workforce expectations." The report also noted that these healthcare tweaks typically require minimal upfront costs; on average, such changes will reflect in a 1% increase for corporate employers’ insurance costs, the organization said.
Over the years, HRC has hammered out more rigorous criteria for this aspect of the index. From 2006 to 2011, companies needed to alleviate exclusion in one of the following strained areas of trans healthcare: surgical procedures, the necessary short-term leave for those surgeries, medical visits and lab procedures for hormone therapy, pharmacy benefits for hormone therapy and mental health. HRC noted that while trans awareness increased in regard to health challenges, many CEI-rated companies began to plateau with mental and physical care coverage, HRC reported. Benefits did not increase at the same pace.
In 2012, the LGBTQ advocacy group implemented new criteria: in order to earn a rating of 100%, businesses needed to go beyond addressing trans healthcare exclusion, and needed to address the root problems preventing trans employees from accessing medically necessary, affirmative healthcare.
Looking back 20 years
Notably, several companies in the modern-day Fortune 500 have a history of scoring 100% since 2002, when the CEI survey was first conducted: Apple, JPMorgan Chase, American Airlines, Nike and Xerox.
A retrospective look at CEI ratings further contextualizes the growth: In 2002, only 3% of Fortune 500 companies across the board had gender identity protections outlined in their nondiscrimination policies. Today, 91% of Fortune 500 companies overall have such protections enumerated in their policies. The fact that 67% of CEI-rated Fortune 500 companies offer trans healthcare is noteworthy given that no participating Fortune 500 companies had trans-inclusive benefits in 2002.
"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," Joni Madison, interim president of HRC, said in a press release. She added this kind of inclusion leads "to proven increases" in the recruitment and retention of diverse talent across industries.
