Human Rights Campaign Equidad CL Workplace Equality Survey is Now Open to Businesses & Corporations

by Aryn Fields

Today, The Human Rights Campaign Foundation, the educational arm of the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer civil rights organization, in partnership with Fundación Iguales, announced it will be opening its fourth annual survey for ‘HRC Equidad CL: Global Workplace Equality Program’ from October 25, 2021 through January 21, 2022. This program is the leading South American benchmarking survey and report recognizing employers in Chile (CL) who have demonstrated a commitment to LGBTQ+ equality by adopting crucial LGBTQ+-inclusive policies and practices for their employees.

LGBTQ+ inclusive and welcoming workplaces are good for employee morale and the business’s bottom line by allowing companies to attract, retain and engage top talent while also maximizing their market opportunities. HRC Equidad CL has worked for three years to do just that—create better, more desirable workplaces for LGBTQ+ employees in Chile. The LGBTQ+ community is disproportionately impacted by workplace discrimination and retaliation, which is why this program has been a game-changer in the day-to-day lives of Chilean LGBTQ+ workers.”

Keisha Williams, Human Rights Campaign Director of Workplace Equality

In the third edition, a landmark 96 companies participated in the survey, which tripled the amount of corporate engagement since its inaugural edition, altogether the top-scoring businesses employ 107,438 workers nationwide and the total of participating companies employ 247,886 workers. In the first edition, Equidad CL 2019, 31 companies undertook the survey and 15 of them earned the HRC’s Foundation designation—last year, that number jumped to 20 top scorers and 63 participating companies. For survey application information, contact equidadcl@hrc.org.

Last year, in our third version, we had nearly 100 businesses participate—this year we are expecting a higher level of participation from organizations that seek recognition as the best places to work for the LGBTQ workforce in Chile."

Emilio Maldonado, HRC Equidad CL Implementing Partner and Representative of Fundacion Iguales

HRC Equidad CL, inspired by the Human Rights Campaign’s annual Corporate Equality Index (CEI), is HRC’s first in-country program in South America and the second in Latin America, following the success of HRC Equidad MX in Mexico. The 2021 HRC Equidad CL report evaluated Chilean businesses and corporations based on three core pillars of LGBTQ workplace inclusion:

  • Adoption of nondiscrimination policies;

  • Creation of employee resource groups or diversity and inclusion councils;

  • Engagement in public activities to support LGBTQ+ inclusion.

Since the program’s inception, and in collaboration with Pride Connection, HRC Equidad CL has become the leading tool among major employers to assess and promote best LGBTQ+-inclusive workplaces across Chile. In 2018, the HRC Foundation kicked off its groundbreaking partnership with Fundación Iguales, Chile's largest LGBTQ+ advocacy group, to promote LGBTQ+ inclusion among major business and U.S. multinationals in Chile through HRC Equidad CL: Global Workplace Equality Program.