Content provided in partnership with
Where to work: The Advocate adds 10 firms to its list of the top gay-friendly employers in the country
Advocate, The, Oct 14, 2003 by Jeremy Quittner
For many people, this year has been a tough one in which to even find a job. Despite the record high unemployment levels, though, gay people have continued to make significant strides in corporate America--by gaining both written protections against discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity and better access to domestic-partner benefits.
Considering these gains, The Advocate has again compiled a list of 10 of the best places for gay people to work. The list considers information companies submitted to the magazine and uses research published in the Human Rights Campaign 2003 Corporate Equality Index, which ranks 362 companies of varying sizes on a scale of 0-100.
- Most Popular Articles in News
- The Ten Best Laptop bags
- Tata plans cheapest-ever car for Indian market
- GLOBALIZATION AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF UNDERDEVELOPMENT OF THE THIRD WORLD
- Corn is good for you; Corn is not only a tasty treat, but also a cereal that ...
- THE 50 BEST STYLISH HANDBAGS TO CARRY
- More »
To calculate its scores, HRC assigns points based on seven criteria, such as whether the company has a written nondiscrimination policy for sexual orientation, if it offers same-sex domestic-partner benefits, if it conducts GLBT-sensitive advertising campaigns, and if it avoids support of antigay groups.
This year HRC gave 21 of the largest companies in the United States perfect scores of 100, nearly twice as many companies as in 2002. One of the biggest areas of progress this year was in protection against discrimination based on gender identity and expression. In 2002 only 15 of the Fortune 500 companies surveyed by HRC included gender identity or expression in their written nondiscrimination policies. This year 22 companies--9% of the 250 Fortune 500 companies in the index--do.
Four of the companies with perfect scores examined by The Advocate this year are financial services firms. These companies "in particular are interested in building a GLBT customer base," explains HRC's Kim Mills, "and in order to do that, you have to have your own house in order."
The following is not meant to be a list of the 10 best places to work in the United States, but rather 10 places that have enlightened workplace practices and protections for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered employees.
Bank One, Chicago 2002 revenues: $16.8 billion Employees: 73,000 U.S. Fortune 500 ranking: 79 HRC score: 100
The sixth-largest bank in the United States is good at more than just providing checking and savings accounts--it is one of the few Fortune 500 companies to include gender identity as well as sexual orientation in its written nondiscrimination policy. The company offers the same benefits to same-sex domestic partners as it does married partners, including bereavement leave, relocation benefits, and an adoption benefit that reimburses couples up to $3,500 per adopted child. Partners of gay employees are also eligible for pensions in the event of the employee's death. Bank One has an officially sanctioned gay employee group called Eagle One, and the company supports AIDS walks and pride parades in its major business centers, including Chicago; Indianapolis; Phoenix; Columbus, Ohio; and Wilmington, Del. Additionally, it sponsors Equality Illinois, the Y-Me National Breast Cancer Organization, and the Out & Equal conference. Bank One also actively markets its deposit and investment products to gay customers.
Bausch & Lomb, Rochester, N.Y. 2002 revenues: $1.8 billion Employees: 11,500 U.S. Fortune 1,000 ranking: 721 HRC score: 100
The eye care company was an early supporter of the proposed Employment Non-Discrimination Act in Congress. It also includes both sexual orientation and gender identity in its written antidiscrimination protections and provides benefits to same-sex domestic partners. Those benefits include free contact lenses and membership in the company's fitness center as well as bereavement leave and coverage of relocation expenses for partners. The company's official gay employee group, GLOB&L, was founded in 1995. Bausch & Lomb has aggressive, ongoing, and mandatory diversity training for all employees, which covers sexual identity and gender expression. Beneficiaries of corporate giving include AIDS Rochester, the Gay Alliance of the Genesee Valley, Image Out (Rochester's lesbian and gay film festival), and the Rochester and Tampa, Fla., pride parades. In 2002 the company also sponsored the Rochester Gay Alliance's youth group.
Borders Group, Ann Arbor, Mich. 2002 revenues: $3.4 billion Employees: 32,000 U.S. Fortune 500 ranking: 446 HRC score: 86
Not only a giant in the book, music, and video retail business, Borders also has progressive policies for all of its employees, including its GLBT segment. It formally bans discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, and it has offered domestic-partner benefits to same-sex couples and their dependent children since 1996. Borders also reimburses $3,000 for the adoption of one child and $4,000 total for sibling group adoptions. The company does not have an official gay employee group, opting instead for a companywide diversity task force that encompasses .all minorities. It has diversity training for all employees, which includes the topic of sexual orientation. The company has supported many local events and causes, such as gay pride parades in San Francisco and Chicago mid AIDS Walk San Francisco, and is a paying member of the Chicago Area Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce. It officially celebrated Gay Pride Month this past June by offering a "diversity book club" for employees, featuring free copies of books with gay and lesbian subject matter.
