Each year, the Human Rights Campaign Foundation (HRC) releases its Corporate Equality Index, which measures corporate policies and practices for LGBT workers. The number of companies offering equal benefits to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) employees continues to expand at a rapid clip.  So how did companies fair and why does it matter?

Many companies offer benefits to their employees to attract talent, create an environment that embraces diversity, and to fill in where states have failed to offer protections. While the number of states where gay and lesbian Americans can get married has swelled greatly over the past year (to 35 states), being able to offer spousal benefits such as health insurance is only part of the equation. LGBT employees can still be fired because of their sexual orientation in 29 states. For transgender individuals, the numbers are even grimmer: only 37 percent of Americans live in an area that bans discrimination based on gender identity or expression.

Offering protections can have a big impact on businesses’ bottom lines. The Level Playing Field Institute estimates that than two million professionals and managers leave workplaces each year due to unfairness, costing U.S. employers $64 billion annually. Also, 27 percent of people who experienced unfairness at work within the past year said their experience strongly discouraged them from recommending their employer to potential employees.

This year, more than half of Business Forward’s member companies scored 100 percent on HRC’s Index. Michael Ross, an executive vice president at Visa, spoke about why his company has taken such a strong leadership role offering protections to its employees.

“Our employees are valued for their culture, experiences and skills, all of which contribute to Visa’s success. The Human Rights Campaign’s recognition of Visa as a Best Place to Work for LGBT Equality is a reflection of our company’s commitment to diversity, inclusion and equality in the workplace.”

Here’s a complete list of Business Forward member companies that scored 100 percent on HRC’s Corporate Equality Index, and rated “Best Places to Work“:

  1. Aetna
  2. Alcoa
  3. American Airlines
  4. AT&T
  5. Bank of New York Mellon
  6. Chevron
  7. Citigroup
  8. Coca-Cola
  9. Comcast
  10. Deloitte
  11. Dow
  12. eBay
  13. Facebook
  14. Ford
  15. Google
  16. Intuit
  17. KPMG
  18. Lockheed
  19. Microsoft
  20. Pacific Gas & Electric
  21. Pfizer
  22. PwC
  23. Prudential
  24. Qualcomm
  25. SAP America
  26. T-Mobile
  27. Target
  28. Time Warner
  29. Time Warner Cable
  30. Viacom
  31. Visa

To read more about the initiative, click here or visit the Human Rights Campaign website.

Click here to learn more about Business Forward’s member companies.