Corporate Equality Index: What Does 100 Percent Mean?
Employers that have earned a 100 percent rating on the HRC Corporate Equality Index have satisfied all of the criteria for that year and are recognized as a "Best Place to Work for LGBT Equality."
These criteria have been created to encourage employers to participate in the index and to advance the best practices for LGBT workplace inclusion that should be expected of all large employers. The criteria have always been intended to evolve as more employers adopt existing criteria and new best practices emerge.
Recognizing that many of the businesses rated in the CEI employ thousands of employees that span most, if not all, of the 50 states and other countries, each business' rating should be viewed as a snapshot of its activity. A CEI rating cannot convey all the nuances of a business' particular approach to LGBT workplace issues, and each 100 percent-rated business has considerable flexibility in how they implement and meet certain CEI criteria.
Similarly, because the CEI currently relies on the reported policies, benefits and other practices that the businesses employ to positively affect LGBT inclusion in their workplaces, a 100 percent rating does not guarantee that individual LGBT employees at the same business will experience the same level of inclusion in their own workplaces.
The newest CEI criteria 3.0, effective in 2011 (for the CEI 2012 report) leaps further than earlier iterations by requiring multiple forms of organizational competency and diversity management, while also requiring employers to begin gathering LGBT employee satisfaction and retention data from employees by including optional gender identity and sexual orientation identification questions. Just a few years ago, such programs were virtually non-existent with the exception of a handful of employers.
The HRC Foundaton is continuously searching for new and creative opportunities to capture the lived experiences of LGBT workers. Please send any comments or suggestions you have to workplace@hrc.org.
