The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Foundation, the organization's educational arm, released its 2021 Corporate Equality Index (CEI)—a survey and report measuring company policies and practices related to LGBTQ workplace equality.
This year, a record-breaking 767 businesses earned the CEI's top score of 100, up from 686 last year—a single-year increase of almost 12 percent. In 2002, the first year of the CEI, only 13 companies achieved a top score.
Some of the key findings include that:
—94 percent of the Fortune 500 and 99.7 percent of all CEI rated businesses have gender identity protections in their nondiscrimination policies—up from 3 percent and 5 percent respectively since the launch of the CEI in 2002;
—The 767 companies who earned a 100 on the CEI represent over 13 million employees nationally, and another 13 million globally; and
—The average CEI score for all Fortune 500 companies increased from 73 to 76 in the past year—with actively participating Fortune 500 companies having an average score of 91 percent, up from 89 percent last year.
Chicago companies that received perfect scores include Aon, Baker & McKenzie LLP, Beam Suntory, BMO Financial Corp., Capgemini America, Chapman and Cutler LLP, CME Group Inc., CNA Financial Corporation, Conagra Brands Inc., Cushman & Wakefield, Exelon Corp., Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and Grant Thornton LLP.
They also include Groupon Inc., Health Care Service Corp., HERE North America LLC, Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP, Huron Consulting Group Inc., Hyatt Hotels Corp., Information Resources Inc., Jenner & Block LLP, JLL, Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP, Kearney, Kirkland & Ellis LLP, The Kraft Heinz Company, Leo Burnett Company Inc., Mayer Brown LLP, McDermott Will & Emery LLP, Mesirow Financial Holdings Inc., Molson Coors Brewing, Mondelez International Inc., Morningstar Inc., Motorola Solutions Inc., Northern Trust Corp. and Peapod Digital Labs LLC.
Lastly, there are Perkins and Will Inc., RSM US LLP, Schiff Hardin LLP, Seyfarth Shaw LLP, Sidley Austin LLP, Softchoice Corp., TransUnion, U.S. Cellular, United Airlines Holdings, Inc., West Monroe Partners LLC, and Winston & Strawn LLP.
The full report is available online at www.hrc.org/cei .
