A new report this week on how Arkansas' Fortune 500 companies fare in terms of how they treat lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) employees puts Wal-Mart Stores Inc. at the top with a score of 90 percent out of a possible 100 percent.
Dillard's Inc. and Tyson Foods Inc. each scored 30; Windstream Corp. and Murphy Oil tallied up at 15 each; and J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. received no points in terms of equality among employees. A spokesman for J.B. Hunt said Thursday that they were not familiar with the survey and did not participate in it.
The survey, the 2015 Corporate Equality Index, was conducted by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, the educational arm of the country's largest gay and transgender civil rights organization. The index is the Human Rights Campaign's national bench-marking tool on corporate policies and practices pertinent to gay and transgender employees.
Deena Fidas, director of the the campaign's Workplace Equality Program and leader of the Corporate Equality Index survey, said Wal-Mart "is definitely a company on the rise when it comes to LGBT inclusion for their own workforce." The index was first made public in 2002.
"It felt like a watershed moment to have Wal-Mart score this highly on the Corporate Equality Index, to have them really raise their profile both internally and externally on matters of LGBT equality," Fidas said. Wal-Mart has more than 2 million workers around the globe.
Businesses are rated based on their responses to the survey, which must be accurate "to the best of the employer's ability, requiring education and understanding by benefits, human resources, legal and other professionals," the foundation said. Supporting documentation is required for some criteria, but only the first time an employer seeks credit for these criteria and not in subsequent surveys.
A Human Rights Campaign survey of gay or transgender Arkansans showed 37 percent of respondents experience harassment at work and about one-fourth experience employment discrimination.
As far back as a decade ago, Wal-Mart implemented protection for its own workforce on the basis of sexual orientation. The company is the world's largest retailer and the nation's largest private sector employer.
"That's quite notable because Arkansas law does not do that, and federal law doesn't even do that," Fidas noted. "This was a private sector employer that, similar to other Fortune 500 companies, has decided it's in their best business interest, and that's really key."
Wal-Mart gay or transgender workers have a voice through an internal LBGTA ("A" stands for ally) affinity group, formally called Walmart PRIDE, formed in 2004. The allies are not necessarily gay, but support those who are, Fidas said. The group was formed 10 years ago with just 25 people at it first meeting. The roster now is over 1,200.
The atmosphere has changed a great deal over the last decade, said Jason Viator, a founding Walmart PRIDE member and 22-year employee who now works at the home office. He's also co-chairman of the Northwest Arkansas group. There's also one in Chicago and at Wal-Mart's San Bruno, Calif., headquarters for ecommerce, among others.
"It's to the point where executives come to us and say 'Hey, what can we do to make this a more inclusive company? What do we need to work on?'" said Viator.
Through the formation of the PRIDE group, "we saw the profile of Wal-Mart's own LGBT employee start to become more visible. What we often see across businesses is once the concept of LGBT inclusion is no longer abstract, it becomes your colleague, it becomes your boss, it becomes your friend at work who you know has a gay son," Fidas said.
Through the late 2000s, Wal-Mart became a significant philanthropist of gay and transgender organizations. In June, the company took out a full-page, pro-gay/transgender ad in the NYC Pride guide. The decision to sponsor the New York walk was made by stores in New Jersey, a Wal-Mart spokesman said.
"Our company contributions are a reflection of our customers, [employees] and the communities that we serve, and we empower our local teams to sponsor a variety of events important to our customers and [employees]," said Wal-Mart spokesman Kevin Garner. He did not have a dollar figure on the amount Wal-Mart has given to various gay or transgender-related events and parades.
Fidas said Wal-Mart also supports SAGE, Services & Advocacy for LGBT Elders, the country's largest and oldest organization dedicated to improving the lives of gay and transgender older adults. The retailer also has had a presence at many of the major national gay and transgender conferences and events. Locally, Wal-Mart and Sam's Club were presenting sponsors of the recent Northwest Arkansas Equality Ball in Fayetteville.
"We're seeing them engage directly with the community at large, sort of beyond the walls of just Wal-Mart locations, Fidas said.
In 2011, the retailer upped its game by adding gender identity to its non-discrimination policy. Then in August of last year, Wal-Mart expanded its health insurance coverage and other benefits to cover heterosexual and gay domestic partners of Wal-Mart workers.
Garner said the expansion of benefits to partners includes medical, dental, vision, spouse life insurance, family leave, 401(K) and critical illness and accidents. Couples must have been together for a year before they can start receiving benefits.Wal-Mart would not release the number of those who have enrolled since the offer was extended, though executives have pointed to rising insurance costs as a headwind for stagnant sales growth.
"Wal-Mart's committed to attracting and retaining the best work force in the retail industry, and given the diverse world we live in, a comprehensive benefits package that includes domestic partners appeals to our contemporary work force," Garner said.
Business on 11/21/2014