An employer's nondiscrimination policies should not be limited to human resources or diversity and inclusion. The CEI’s Corporate Social Responsibility criteria ensure that sexual orientation and gender identity protections apply to those standards that businesses require their vendors or suppliers to adhere to, as well as recipients of their philanthropic funds.
To receive earn credit, a company must:
Have existing non-discrimination standards for that include sexual orientation and gender identity, alongside other protected categories.
More information:
Businesses of the size included in the CEI (a minimum of 500 full time US employees) typically have set standards and guidelines already embedded in their procurement. This simply ensures consistency in the corporate policies and values of non-discrimination between the employer and its contractors –those it decides to reward with its business.
Many worksites have employees from different businesses working side by side. For example, a large defense firm may be made up of three separate private contractors working together on the same project. This change makes the expectations and policies in the workplace more consistent.
Review our resource on inclusive supplier/vendors standards.
Examples:
Bank of America Supplier Code of Conduct
Note: If a company does not use third-party supplier/vendors or does not have existing non-discrimination standards, there is no penalty. We are simply asking if existing non-discrimination standards include “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” alongside other protected classes.
To receive credit in the CEI, a company must:
Submit a copy of their applicable philanthropic giving guidelines that specifically include “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” as it refers to recipient organization non-discrimination.
More information:
Philanthropic giving refers to corporate foundational giving, corporate in-kind donations, and employee matching-gift programs.
Examples:
Levi Strauss Foundation Grantmaking Guidelines
Note: Guidelines must specifically enumerate “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” alongside any other protected categories in order to receive credit. Guidelines can refer to participant company’s existing non-discrimination/EEO policy.