5 Most ‘Gay-Friendly’ Fortune 500 Companies

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Most people are familiar with the phrase: “Hire for attitude, train for skill.” At its core, it’s all about finding great people to work at your company.

Making news in recent days is President Obama’s recognition that same-sex couples deserve the right to marry. If America wants to continue to be a world leader, it has to become more tolerant of others. Relating this back to corporations, the most successful likely will be the most tolerant. Why? Because great corporations hire talented people almost every day of the week, and sometimes those new hires just happen to be lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender.

Every year, the Human Rights Campaign releases its Corporate Equality Index, which rates Fortune 1000 companies — as well as private and nonprofit businesses that choose to participate in its survey — as they relate to LGBT employees. Since its inception in 2002, the number of participants has risen from 319 to 636, representing every major sector in the U.S. There are a total of eight criteria in the CEI rating system for a total of 100 points, as well as a 25-point penalty for any company with a large-scale official or public anti-LGBT blemish on their recent records. Amazingly, there are no federal laws barring workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, and said discrimination remains legal in at least 50% of the states. Fortunately for the LGBT community, private employers have been far more responsive to their needs than lawmakers.

Read on as we highlight the five highest-rated Fortune 500 companies considered “gay-friendly.” Just as investors should understand how a business makes money, we also should be aware of companies that care about all of their employees and not just some of them. To do so is not just good business — it’s common sense.

Chevron

Chevron Corp. (NYSE:CVX)Chevron (NYSE:CVX) is the highest-ranked Fortune 1000 company (No. 3) to achieve a perfect score of 100. It is the top-rated oil and gas company in the nation offering at least one transgender-inclusive health care coverage plan. Chevron also was the first major integrated energy company to include sexual orientation in its nondiscriminatory policies. In terms of diversity, it mops the floor with rival Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM).

Bank of America

Bank of AmericaWe like to criticize the big banks, but of the 10 highest-ranked Fortune 1000 companies that score a perfect 100 on the CEI, four are banks, including Bank of America (NYSE:BAC). In January, Bank of America began compensating LGBT employees for income taxes paid on health and wellness benefits for same-sex partners, something heterosexual married couples don’t have to pay. Bank of America has been providing domestic partner health benefits since 1998.

AT&T

AT&T TDallas-based telecommunications giant AT&T (NYSE:T) has been on the HRC’s “Best Places to Work” list for eight consecutive years and has had an employee resource group for LGBT employees since 1987. Debbie Story, AT&T’s Senior Vice President of Talent Development and Chief Diversity Officer has this to say on the subject: “At AT&T, diversity and inclusion are a business imperative and the key to our future success. We know that only by harnessing diverse backgrounds and views represented by our workforce will we be able to meet the needs of the diverse communities we serve.”

Her statement needs no further explanation.

Ford Motor

Ford logoIt’s good to see the big three automotive makers leading the charge. General Motors (NYSE:GM) barely missed qualifying, scoring 85 out of 100 points because it doesn’t provide health and medical insurance for dependants of same-sex partners. Chrysler also scored 100, but it’s not a public company.

Alan Mulally, CEO of Ford (NYSE:F), reiterates the business case for diversity at its career page on its website. Henry Ford believed the only way to sell more Model T’s was to ensure employees could afford to buy one. The LGBT consumer is estimated to have cumulative spending power of $743 billion. To discriminate against existing or prospective LGBT employees in the workplace simply cuts off your nose to spite your face. Mulally is smarter than that.

JPMorgan Chase

JPMorgan NYSE:JPMA little bit of good news for all those grimacing shareholders. JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) provides a couple of interesting benefits to LGBT employees. The first, which also is available to heterosexual couples, provides up to $10,000 in financial support when adopting a child. Because this is the only way for many gay couples to start a family, it’s nice to know the bank is doing its part to find good homes for orphaned children. Secondly, JPM has offered insurance coverage for gender reassignment surgery since 2009, making it one of the earliest adopters of this type of benefit. Today, 207 companies in the survey do or will provide coverage in the near future. I’m not a big fan of Jamie Dimon, but those two benefits definitely qualify as leadership initiatives.

I find it ironic that Wall Street was one of the earliest adopters of employee benefits for the LGBT community. Perhaps bankers are wiser than we give them credit for. Whatever the case may be, the Corporate Equality Index continues to be a harbinger of change that investors might want to pay attention to — straight or gay.

As of this writing, Will Ashworth did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.

Will Ashworth has written about investments full-time since 2008. Publications where he’s appeared include InvestorPlace, The Motley Fool Canada, Investopedia, Kiplinger, and several others in both the U.S. and Canada. He particularly enjoys creating model portfolios that stand the test of time. He lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia.


Article printed from InvestorPlace Media, https://investorplace.com/2012/05/5-fortune-500-companies-going-the-extra-mile/.

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