
Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s Corporate Equality Index is the national benchmarking tool on corporate policies, practices and benefits pertinent to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer employees.
As the national benchmarking tool measuring policies, practices and benefits pertinent to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) employees, the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s Corporate Equality Index is a primary driving force for LGBTQ workplace inclusion. Data from the CEI tells the story of nearly two decades of year over year growth in the adoption of these critical policies and practices indicative of employers' commitment to equality.
Corporate Equality Index 2021
The HRC Foundation's Corporate Equality Index continues to show incredible growth in the number of employers that are committed to implementing LGBTQ-inclusive policies and practices.
An outstanding 1,142 companies actively participated in the CEI 2021 Survey.
In the 2021 CEI, 767 employers achieved a top score of 100 and earning the coveted title of “Best Place to Work for LGBTQ Equality.”
84 companies, from nearly every industry, participated in the CEI for the first time this year.
Our participating companies know that building an LGBTQ-inclusive workplace is not just the right thing to do — it is also the best business decision — allowing companies to attract, retain and engage top talent."
All Fortune 500 | Participating | Not Participating | |
---|---|---|---|
Sexual Orientation in U.S. Nondiscrimination Policy | 96% | 100% | 81% |
Gender Identity in U.S. Nondiscrimination Policy | 94% | 100% | 73% |
Domestic Partner Benefits | 57% | 75% | 0% |
Transgender-Inclusive Benefits | 71% | 93% | 0% |
Organizational LGBTQ Competency | 71% | 92% | 0% |
Public Commitment to the LGBTQ Community | 70% | 92% | 0% |
Average 2021 CEI Score | 76% | 92% | 26% |
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.
of CEI-rated employers (1,052 of 1,142 respondents) offer a a robust set of practices (at least three efforts) to support organizational LGBTQ diversity competency.
of CEI-rated employers (1,081 of 1,142 respondents) have an employee resource group or diversity council that includes LGBTQ and allied employees and programming.
major businesses have adopted gender transition guidelines to establish best practices in transgender inclusion for managers and teams.
Despite the disruption of the COVID-19 epidemic with cancellation of in-person events worldwide, CEI-rated businesses followed-through on their commitments to LGBTQ community engagement throughout the year largely by leveraging online and virtual engagement platforms.
The CEI’s Corporate Social Responsibility criteria also 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.
of CEI-rated businesses (1,056 of 1,142 respondents) met the standard of demonstrating a least three efforts of public commitment to the LGBTQ community.
of CEI-rated businesses (971 of 1,142 respondents) have written giving guidelines that prohibit philanthropic support of non-religious organizations with an explicit policy of discrimination towards LGBTQ people.
Over 320 leading companies are members of HRC's Business Coalition for the Equality Act, demonstarting their support for federal legislation that would provide the same basic protections to LGBTQ people as are provided to other protected groups under federal law.