In October, HRC participated in a panel hosted by OPEN Finance, Aon, and HSBC discussing the role corporate america plays in paving the way for global LGBTQ equality.
Deena Fidas, Director of HRC’s Workplace Equality Program, joined Charles Radcliffe, Chief of Equality and Non-Discrimination for United Nations Human Rights Office, and Jennifer Brown, Founder and President of Jennifer Brown Consulting, on a panel moderated by Ray Johnson, Vice President of Corporate Stability for HSBC. Together the panelists shared their insights on how businesses can model LGBTQ inclusion throughout their global operations.
Elaborating on how measurement tools can help increase impact, Fidas explained how HRC’s Corporate Equality Index (CEI) allows for benchmarking and accountability metrics, furthering the shared goal of clear, identifiable policies covering sexual orientation and gender identity-based protections in the workplace. Today, businesses no longer reserve basic workplace fairness for part of their workforce, but are instead making protections on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity consistent across their global operations.
In the 2016 CEI which measures policies, practices and benefits relevant to LGBTQ workplace inclusion, 54 percent of CEI-rated employers have operations outside of the United States, and of these global businesses, a strong majority – 95 percent – extend both sexual orientation and gender identity protections across their global workforce.
In addition, the panelists emphasized the key role global corporations play in the evolving LGBTQ equality movement across the globe, and what more can be achieved. Fidas highlighted the importance of HRC Foundation’s groundbreaking Global Business Coalition – a consortium of major global businesses committed to upholding workplace protections for LGBTQ employees. HRC’s coalition provides companies with a peer-to-peer network for discussing evolving best practices for LGBTQ people globally and acts as a voice for the positive economic impact of creating inclusive workplaces wherever one does business around the world.
For more information on how to join HRC’s Global Business Coalition, click here.
For more information and resources on LGBTQ workplace inclusion, click here.
For more information about HRC’s work around the globe, click here.
Post submitted by Ana Hooper, HRC Workplace Equality Program Coordinator
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