A record-breaking 41 major companies and law firms in Massachusetts earned perfect “100 percent” scores in the 2018 Corporate Equality Index, released November 9, 2017, by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation.
The average score for Bay State-based companies and firms is 97 percent. Of the 48 companies evaluated, 41 earned 100 points, six earned 90 and above, and one earned 80 and above.
For the index, HRC evaluates LGBT-related policies and practices including non-discrimination workplace protections, domestic partner benefits, transgender-inclusive health care benefits, competency programs, and public engagement with the LGBT community.
Overall, it was a record-breaking year nationally too, with 609 businesses earning the top score of 100, up from 517 last year—a single-year increase of 18 points.
“At a time when the rights of LGBTQ people are under attack by the Trump-Pence Administration and state legislatures across the country, hundreds of top American companies are driving progress toward equality in the workplace,” HRC President Chad Griffin said in a press release.
“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 operations around the globe and impacting millions of people beyond our shores. In addition, 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 106 corporate supporters of the Equality Act. We are proud to have developed so many strong partnerships with corporate allies who see LGBTQ equality as a crucial issue for our country and for their businesses,” Griffin said.
The full report, including a searchable employer database is available online at www.hrc.org/cei. The Human Rights Campaign Foundation is the educational arm of HRC, the largest LGBTQ civil rights organization in the United States.
