Corporate America Offers Expanded Benefits & Protections to Compete for GLBT Emp

[LostInTime]

go here for full article

In all of the policy and benefits areas that were measured, the report reveals double-digit increases in the number of companies adhering to the criteria. Among the companies surveyed this year:

75 percent more companies than in 2005 prohibited discrimination against transgender employees in employment practices;
64 percent more companies than in 2005 implemented at least one wellness benefit for transgender employees;
35 percent more companies than in 2005 extended COBRA, vision, dental and dependent medical coverage to employees' same-sex domestic partners; and
14 percent more companies than in 2005 engaged in philanthropic or marketing activities directed toward the GLBT community.
Almost all of the companies rated—436, or 98 percent of the 446 companies included in the report—include sexual orientation in their non-discrimination polices.

[Louise]

This is indeed positive news, but I would add one note of caution lest we get too optimistic.  496 companies were surveyed but they were selected from the Fortune 1000, the S&P 500, the 200 largest privately held companies and the top 100 law firms--so less than 50% of the total number of companies that might have been included responded to the survey.  The companies that responded are more likely those that have pro LGBT policies.  What about the companies that did not respond?  I suspect that their policies are not so positive.

[Jessica]

There are really only three kinds of lies
There are lies
There are damnable lies
And then there are statistics.

I've read somewhere that 99.3% of statistics are incorrect.  >

Jessica