Benefits and the BOTTOM LINE

As president of the Atlanta Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, Carla Corley is constantly fielding questions from job-seekers about metro Atlanta firms that are hiring. And there's one question she hears over and over again.

"I'm always being asked, 'What's their environment like?' " Corley said. "People want to know if they're going to have to come out all over again."

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"People want to join companies where there is openness," said Carla Corley, president of the Atlanta Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce.

Corley can give job-seekers a fair evaluation of a company's corporate culture by looking at its benefits package. How a company handles items such as health insurance coverage for gay and lesbian employees and their partners says a lot about its mind-set.

"The no-discrimination policies and things like partner benefits are signs that draw people to those companies," Corley said. "People want to join companies where there is openness, and having those policies says a company has that."

Spreading the word about which companies have open corporate cultures is part of the 12-year-old chamber's job, Corley said. On its Web site (www.atlantagaychamber

.org), there's a list of area companies and the benefits and opportunities they offer to members of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) community.

"The more that employers have that information out there, the better they attract employees," Corley said. "We've had a lot of companies approach the chamber about trying to track GLBT employees, and that's one of the first things we talk to them about. It's a form of employer branding, in a way."

Members of the GLBT community in Georgia will also find that there are seven major firms that have been cited for working diligently to make their environments friendly places, regardless of sexual orientation. A 2006 survey by the Human Rights Campaign, a Washington-based political organization, ranked major U.S. firms based on the benefits and protections they extended to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender employees and customers.

More than 130 companies earned perfect scores; seven of them are in Georgia: Alston & Bird, BellSouth Corp., ChoicePoint Inc., Coca-Cola Co., ING North America, Powell Goldstein and SunTrust Banks Inc.

Equal treatment

Atlanta-based ChoicePoint -- a company that provides technology, software, information and marketing services -- has scored 100 percent on the Human Rights Campaign survey for four consecutive years, said director of diversity Laura Young. And one area that has contributed to that stellar record is the company's benefits for partners and children of gays and lesbians. The policies were established in 2002.

"We offer gay and lesbian associates the same benefits we offer other associates, be it medical, dental, vision or bereavement leave," Young said. "Having family members of our associates with no medical coverage was not acceptable to us."

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"We want to create an environment where people can be judged on their merit," said John Latham, diversity partner at Alston & Bird law firm.

Extending domestic partnership benefits is the right thing to do, Young added. But it also plays to the company's ability to attract and retain talented employees. A firm without domestic partnership benefits may give up its competitive edge.

"When you're trying to draw in the best talent, this just makes you more competitive," Young said. "It tells the prospective associates something about our company. It says, 'If I choose to work at ChoicePoint, I can be who I am; I don't have to hide anything about myself. I can do my job without those pressures and concerns in a supportive environment.'

"They know they can come here and feel good about who they are and excel."

An open climate

At the Atlanta law firm of Alston & Bird, extending benefits to domestic partners is a key part of the open climate the company fosters.

"Benefits have never been an issue, because the firm recognizes and respects all employees, and we will not discriminate against the relationships they enjoy," said John Latham, who was named the firm's first diversity partner five years ago. "That wouldn't work with our culture. We want to create an environment where people can be judged on their merit."

Sound a bit utopian? Latham is the first to admit that it does. "But it's how we are. Our goal is to give all of our staff, associates and partners the same opportunity to succeed that every other individual has."

And before you can have successful employees, you've got to get them through the door.

"There is a recruiting benefit to offering these benefits," Latham said. "It does signal that you want a relationship. But in my opinion, it's secondary. I'd like to believe that the things we've done in this area are for their sake, because they're the right thing to do."

Recruiting is easier when the company boasts an environment where people want to work, said Jacqui Robertson, vice president of workforce diversity for ING North America U.S. Financial Services.

Part of her job is measuring how well the company is doing at recruiting, retaining and fostering employees.

" 'Making it easier' is our brand promise," Robertson said. "It's understanding what's important to our employees and customers. So we walk the talk.

"We changed our nondiscrimination clause to include gender and sexual orientation, as well as gender identity. We provide health parity and COBRA benefits (under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act) for dental, vision, bereavement and supplemental life insurance for partners."

But even with those accomplishments, Robertson believes there is still work to be done.

"We have made several strides," she said, "but are we there completely? I think there's always room for improvement."