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 Rise 50% in 2 Years Firms Also Adopt Non-Discrimination Policies HRC has Tracked Corporate Trends since 1995 |
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Compiled by GayToday
Washington, D.C.- Domestic partner health insurance benefits have increased by 50 percent in the last two years among U.S. employers, a clear indication that these benefits make good business sense, according to a report released yesterday by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation.
At least 712 U.S. employers added domestic partner health insurance benefits from August 2000 through August 2001, according to The State of the Workplace for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Americans. This was an increase of 20 percent over 2000. As of August 2001, a total of 4,284 companies, colleges and universities and state and local governments were offering or had announced they would offer health insurance coverage to the domestic partners of their employees, the study found. This was up from 3,572 employers in 2000 and 2,856 in August 1999 - a 50 percent increase in two years. In addition, the number of Fortune 500 companies offering DP benefits has more than doubled in the past three years, from 61 in 1998 to 145 in 2001. In fact, more Fortune 500 companies - 36 - have added domestic partner benefits in 2001 than in any year since the HRC Foundation has tracked the trend. "Domestic partner benefits continued to spread at a brisk pace over the last year," said Kim I. Mills, education director of the Human Rights Campaign and editor of the report. "We believe employers are bringing their policies into line with the changing makeup of the American family - as demonstrated in census data released this year - and to the growing body of evidence that these benefits are a low-cost means of attracting and retaining good employees." Mills oversees HRC WorkNet, the organization's workplace project, which has tracked these and related trends since 1995. Its database and other information are accessible at http://www.hrc.org/worknet. Daryl Herrschaft, manager of HRC WorkNet and principal author of the report, noted that while the study found no reduction in the number of employers adding domestic partner benefits, "it may be too soon to tell what, if any, impact we might see from rising health insurance costs, and the economic instability that began with the bursting of the high-tech bubble and has worsened since the attacks against the United States on September 11." Employers continued to add sexual orientation to their non-discrimination policies as well. As of August 15, 2001, HRC WorkNet had identified 2,001 companies, colleges and universities, state and local governments and federal agencies that had written non-discrimination policies covering sexual orientation. This represents an increase of 293 employers, or 17 percent, in one year. This included 294, or 59 percent, of Fortune 500 companies. HRC WorkNet found 39 Fortune 500 companies added sexual orientation to their non-discrimination policies during the period covered by the report, a 15 percent increase over the prior year. Other key findings:
The data in this report come from a variety of sources, including: direct reporting to HRC WorkNet (www.hrc.org/worknet); news accounts; state and local governments; employee resource groups; individuals; and other gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender advocacy organizations. This report also incorporates information from the glvIndex, a rating system developed by Grant Lukenbill and Howard Tharsing and recently acquired by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation. HRC WorkNet makes every effort to check the accuracy of the information it receives. |
