The resources provided here are certainly not the only ones available to help your company create a workplace that is inclusive of LGBTQ+ employees; however, we hope they can help you get started on implementing best practices in workplace equality. The CEI Resource Guide is also designed to help employers better understand what is required to receive credit for each question as part of the CEI scoring criteria.

We hope you find the CEI Resource Guide helpful in taking steps to ensure your company has the necessary workplace policies, practices and benefits foundational to an inclusive and welcoming environment for LGBTQ+ workers. If you have any further questions about the CEI, please do not hesitate to contact our team at cei@hrc.org.

Rating Criteria for the 2025 CEI

1. Workforce Protections
   1. Policy includes sexual orientation and gender identity/gender identity or expression for all operations
2. Inclusive Benefits
   1. Equivalency in same- and different-sex spousal and domestic partner medical and soft benefits
   2. Equivalency in spousal and domestic partner family formation benefits regardless of sex
      
   3. Equal health coverage for transgender individuals without exclusion for medically necessary care
   4. LGBTQ+ benefits guide
3. Supporting an Inclusive Culture
   1. Four Efforts of LGBTQ+ ​Internal Training and Accountability
   2. LGBTQ+ Data Collection
   3. Transgender Inclusion Best Practices
   4. Employee Group –OR– Diversity Council
      
4. Corporate Social Responsibility
   1. Five Distinct Efforts of Outreach or Engagement to Broader LGBTQ+ Community
      
   2. LGBTQ+ Corporate Social Responsibility

Criterion 1: Workforce Protections

The questions for this criterion refer to your company’s Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) or non-discrimination policy. This section will cover key questions that must be met in order to receive the allotted points.

Criterion 2: Inclusive Benefits

The questions for this criterion all relate to best practices in LGBTQ+ Inclusive Benefits. The scored questions for this criterion come from the following sections of questions from the Corporate Equality Index Survey.

This criterion is divided into three scored subsections:

• The first subsection consists of domestic partner benefits and inclusive family formation benefits, your company can either receive full (10 points) or partial (5 points) credit per section depending upon the level of parity in the benefits.
• The second subsection is related to the provision of transgender-inclusive healthcare benefits for your employees and is worth 25 points. Partial credit (10 points) is possible for companies that have not eliminated broad exclusions from all other benefit plans.
• The third subsection is the LGBTQ+ benefits guide requirement, worth 5 points. The guide should include information on domestic partner benefit eligibility, family formation benefits, transition care, and coverage of HIV/AIDS care.

Criterion 3: Supporting an Inclusive Culture

The questions in this criterion all relate to best practices in Internal Training and Accountability and Inclusive Culture Best Practices. The scored questions in this criterion come from the following sections of questions from the Corporate Equality Index Survey.

This criterion is divided into four scored subsections:

• Internal Training and Accountability
  • In order to earn full credit (5 points) for Internal Training and Accountability the company must demonstrate at least 4 distinct efforts, including the element of intersectionality in a training or education initiative.
• Inclusive Culture Best Practices.
  • LGBTQ+ Data Collection (5 points)
  • Transgender Inclusion Best Practices (5 points); and
  • an LGBTQ+ ERG or diversity council with LGBTQ+ issues as a part of its mission or charter (10 points).

Criterion 4: Corporate Social Responsibility

The questions in this criterion all relate to external best practices in Outreach and Engagement with the LGBTQ+ Community and Corporate Social Responsibility. The scored questions in this criterion come from the following sections of questions from the Corporate Equality Index Survey.

This criterion is divided into two scored subsections:

• Outreach and Engagement to the LGBTQ+ Community
  • This section evaluates External Engagement with the Broader LGBTQ+. Participating companies can earn full (15 points) or partial (10 points) credit. In order to earn full credit, companies with existing supplier diversity programs must include LGBTQ+ employers as a part of the program.
     
• Corporate Social Responsibility
  • In order to earn full credit (5 points) for this criterion, employers with nondiscrimination standards for third party suppliers must include sexual orientation and gender identity. Employers must also have an internal facing philanthropic giving policy prohibiting charitable giving to non-religious organizations with an explicit written policy of anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination.