Unilever named best place to work by human rights campaign for seventh year

ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS, NJ (November 19, 2014) - For the seventh consecutive year, Unilever is recognized as one of the “Best Places to Work” by the Human Rights Campaign, earning a perfect score of 100 on the 2015 Corporate Equality Index (“CEI”) by satisfying all of the CEI’s criteria. The 2015 CEI is the national benchmarking tool on corporate LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) related policies and practices.

“We are honored to be recognized for the seventh year as a Best Place to Work for LGBT employees. The team is always excited about upholding our 100 percent score on the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index, but this journey is much larger than a score.” said Sumeet Salwan, Unilever’s Senior Vice President, Human Resources, North America. 

“For us, it is a testament to our progress on building a truly inclusive workplace where every employee can be themselves and not have to leave anything at the door. We strive to promote diversity as an expression of Unilever’s sustainability mission by creating a win, win world—one where we can truly live our belief that diverse teams perform better.”

Unilever joins the ranks of 366 major U.S. businesses which also earned top marks this year. The 2015 CEI rated 971 businesses in the report, which evaluates LGBT-related policies and practices including non-discrimination workplace protections, domestic partner benefits, transgender-inclusive health care benefits, competency programs and public engagement with the LGBT community.

Unilever supports the LGBT community at work through its PRIDE Group. PRIDE (People Respecting Individuality, Diversity and Equality) is an LGBT Business Resource Group open to all Unilever employees that share a common goal of endorsing respect, individuality, diversity and equality throughout the organization.

“We established the PRIDE network in the US in 2008 so that everyone feels comfortable bringing their whole selves to the workplace,” said Jonathan Atwood, Vice President of Sustainability and Communications, North America and Executive Sponsor of Unilever’s US PRIDE network. “Through the work of PRIDE, providing benefits for domestic partners and spouses and LGBT advocacy amongst our brands—Unilever is showing our commitment to celebrating diversity and respecting everyone for who they are and what they bring.”

For more information on the 2015 Corporate Equality Index, or to download a free copy of the report, visit www.hrc.org/cei