The Human Rights Coalition (HRC) has released its annual ranking of companies looking at LGBTQ friendly policies.
The 2018 Corporate Equality Index designated 571 companies as a "Best Place to Work for LGBTQ Equality." Six made the list in Delaware, including TD Bank, Navient, Sallie Mae, DuPont, Chemours and AstraZeneca.
HRC bases their ranking on whether companies have non-discrimination policies, employment benefits, an inclusive culture and corporate social responsibility including public commitment to LGBTQ equality.
Specific efforts that got high marks include adopting non-discrimination policies that account for sexual orientation or gender identity and inclusion guidelines for transgender workers who are transitioning.
"The top-scoring companies on this year's CEI are not only establishing policies that affirm and include employees here in the United States, they are applying these policies to their global operations and impacting millions of people beyond our shores," said HRC President Chad Griffin. "Many of these companies have also become vocal advocates for equality in the public square, including the dozens that have signed on to amicus briefs in vital Supreme Court cases and the more than 170 that have joined HRC's Business Coalition for the Equality Act. Time and again, leading American businesses have shown that protecting their employees and customers from discrimination isn't just the right thing to do -- it's also good for business."
Other key findings revealed in the 2019 CEI:
- The number of U.S. employees with a corporate non-discrimination policy protecting them from sexual orientation or gender identity discrimination is 16.8 million;
- Gender identity is now part of non-discrimination policies at 85 percent of Fortune 500 companies, up from just three percent in 2002;
- More than 500 major employers have adopted supportive inclusion guidelines for transgender workers who are transitioning;
- 136 Fortune 500 companies were given unofficial scores based on publicly available information.
The full report is available here: https://www.hrc.org/campaigns/corporate-equality-index