WASHINGTON DC (January, 2020)—
America’s leading companies and law firms are stepping up in record numbers to adopt increasingly forward-looking policies and practices to meet the needs of their lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) workers in the U.S. and abroad, according to the
2020
Corporate Equality Index
(CEI) released today by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Foundation, the educational arm of the nation’s largest LGBTQ civil rights organization.
In the most rigorous assessment of LGBTQ-inclusive workplace policies and practices to date, a record of more than 680 companies have been designated a
Best Place to Work for LGBTQ Equality
by the HRC Foundation for their efforts in satisfying all of the CEI’s criteria results, earning them a 100 percent rating.
Top-scoring companies include 23 in New Jersey.
In total, 1059 companies and law firms were officially rated in the new CEI, up from 1028 in last year’s survey. The report also unofficially rated 122 Fortune 500 companies, which have yet to respond to an invitation to participate in the CEI survey assessing their LGBTQ policies and practices.
The average score for companies and law firms based in New Jersey is 86 percent. Of the 46 companies ranked, 23 earned 100 points, 31 earned 90 points and above, and 38 earned 80 points and above.
For the first time, HRC this year is giving special recognition to the 11 companies that earned top marks on all three of HRC’s workplace equality assessments: the CEI, as well as
Equidad MX
and
Equidad CL
. HRC’s groundbreaking Equidad program recognizes Latin American companies and U.S. multinational companies for their work in Mexico and Chile.
“These companies know that protecting their LGBTQ employees and customers from discrimination is not just the right thing to do — it is also the best business decision. In addition, many of these leaders are also advocating for the LGBTQ community and equality under the law in the public square,” said
HRC President Alphonso David
. “From supporting LGBTQ civil rights protections in the U.S. through HRC’s Business Coalition for the Equality Act, to featuring transgender and non-binary people in an ad in Argentina, to advocating for marriage equality in Taiwan — businesses understand their LGBTQ employees and customers deserve to be seen, valued and respected not only at work, but in every aspect of daily life.”
Employer
Headquarters Location
State
2020 CEI Rating
ADP
Roseland
NJ
100
American Express Global Business Travel
Jersey City
NJ
100
BASF Corp.
Florham Park
NJ
100
Bayer U.S. LLC
Whippany
NJ
100
Becton, Dickinson and Co.
Franklin Lakes
NJ
100
Celgene Corp.
Summit
NJ
100
Day Pitney LLP
Parsippany
NJ
100
Dun & Bradstreet Corp., The
Short Hills
NJ
100
Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey
Newark
NJ
100
Johnson & Johnson
New Brunswick
NJ
100
Mathematica Policy Research
Princeton
NJ
100
Merck
Kenilworth
NJ
100
Nestle Health Science
Bridgewater
NJ
100
Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp.
East Hanover
NJ
100
Pearson Inc.
Hoboken
NJ
100
Prudential Financial Inc.
Newark
NJ
100
Quest Diagnostics Inc.
Secaucus
NJ
100
Samsung Electronics America Inc.
Ridgefield Park
NJ
100
Sanofi
Bridgewater
NJ
100
Subaru of America Inc.
Cherry Hill
NJ
100
TD Bank, N.A.
Cherry Hill
NJ
100
Unilever
Englewood Cliffs
NJ
100
Wyndham Hotels & Resorts Inc.
Parsippany
NJ
100
Avis Budget Group Inc.
Parsippany
NJ
95
Novo Nordisk Inc.
Plainsboro
NJ
95
Aero OpCo LLC
Lyndhurst
NJ
90
Ascena Retail Group Inc.
Mahwah
NJ
90
Mars Inc.
Mt. Olive
NJ
90
Realogy Holdings Corp.
Madison
NJ
90
Wipro Ltd.
East Brunswick
NJ
90
Campbell Soup Co.
Camden
NJ
85
John Wiley & Sons Inc.
Hoboken
NJ
85
Public Service Enterprise Group
Newark
NJ
85
Burlington Stores Inc.
Burlington
NJ
80
Conduent Inc.
Florham Park
NJ
80
Firmenich Inc.
Plainsboro
NJ
80
Lord, Abbett & Co. LLC
Jersey City
NJ
80
McCarter & English LLP
Newark
NJ
80
Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp.
Teaneck
NJ
70
NRG Energy Inc.
Princeton
NJ
65
Honeywell International Inc.
Morris Plains
NJ
60
Newell Brands Inc.
Hoboken
NJ
60
Selective Insurance Group
Branchville
NJ
40
Software House International
Somerset
NJ
30
Bed Bath & Beyond Inc.
Union
NJ
20
PBF Energy
Parsippany
NJ
20
More than 260 top businesses — including 191 that earned top scores on the CEI — are also
corporate supporters on the Equality Act
, critically important bipartisan legislation that would finally add clear, comprehensive non-discrimination protections for LGBTQ people to our nation\’s civil rights laws. While the Supreme Court decides whether LGBTQ people are protected by federal employment non-discrimination law, these companies are holding the line for their employees and their families.
Other key findings revealed in the 2020 CEI:
The more than 680 companies who earned a 100 on the CEI represent 12.4 million employees nationally, 11.9 million globally and earn a combined estimate of $12.9 trillion in revenue.
Eighty-three companies participated in the CEI for the first time in 2020 with 36 debuting at a score of 100 — including Etsy Inc., Peloton Interactive Inc. and Stop & Shop, and Warner Music Group.
Of all Fortune 500 companies, 93% have sexual orientaiton in their U.S. non-discrimination policy, and 91% have gender identity.
The average CEI score for all Fortune 500 companies increased from 67 to 71 in the past year — with actively participating Fortune 500 companies having an average score of 90, up from 88 last year.
Over the last several years, CEI-rated companies have dramatically expanded their support for transgender workers. This year 89% percent of companies participating in the CEI offer at least one health care policy that is inclusive of their transgender workers, and 85% percent met stringent criteria that requires all blanket exclusions of medically-necessary care for transgender workers be removed from all health policies the company offers — up from 73% last year.
The CEI rates companies and top law firms on detailed criteria in four broad categories:
Non-discrimination policies
Employment benefits
Supporting an inclusive culture and corporate social responsibility including public commitment to LGBTQ equality
Responsible citizenship
The full report is available online at
www.hrc.org/cei.
The Human Rights Campaign Foundation is the educational arm of America\’s largest civil rights organization working to achieve equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual transgender and queer people. HRC envisions a world where LGBTQ people are embraced as full members of society at home, at work and in every community.