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British Telecom tops equality list
By: Nigel Robinson
BT: best LGBT employer
BT: best LGBT employer
BT is the best employer for gay men and lesbians in the world.
The announcement was made at the closing ceremony of the second annual congress of the International Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (IGLCC) in Copenhagen.
In the first edition of the IGLCC’s International Business Equality Index, the British company topped the list of gay-friendly employers, beating other giants such as IBM, the Dow Chemical Company and Intel.
The IGLCC surveyed corporations with offices in at least three countries and a minimum of ten thousand employees. The companies were quizzed on their diversity policies, practices to LGBT staff, and their community involvement.
BT which is present in forty-three countries, employing over 111,000 staff worldwide, topped the list.
‘On behalf of BT, I am absolutely delighted with this recognition" said Ian Livingston, BT's CEO.
‘As one of the largest communication companies in the world, we provide service to customers in more than 170 countries and employ well in excess of 100,000 people across the globe.
‘Diversity must be, and is, at the heart of our business and having the policies and the practices in place to support the LGBT community is essential to our success.’
Anne Heal, BT's Senior Champion for Sexual Orientation added: ‘BT has been providing same-sex partner benefits to employees since the early 1980s and will continue to look at ways in which we can ensure that our people can be 'who they are' at work without fear of discrimination or prejudice.
‘The IGLCC award recognises the efforts of our HR community and our LGBT network, Kaleidoscope, in their determination to ensure that equality of opportunity is reality in our business.’
Pascal Lépine, Secretary General of the IGLCC, said:
‘BT Group’s outstanding commitment, policies and investment in LGBT diversity merits them the title of the most LGBT-friendly corporation in the world.
‘We challenge all multinationals to follow the example and leadership shown by those who saw a chance to be ahead of the curve.’
