Relationships Between Transgender Non- Discrimination Law and Corporate Policy

Transgender  Identity that does not conform unambiguously to conventional notions of male or female gender, but combines or moves between these (OED 2003)

Transgender  Includes all non-traditional gender identity May or may not involve gender “transition” May or may not involve surgery Not just “transsexuals”

Gender Identity  Internal psychological feeling that identifies you as a man or a woman to yourself Traditional “gender identity” means you feel connected to your birth sex – a person born male feels like a man

Transgender Laws and Corporate Policies  Laws since U.S. states 100 U.S. cities  Corporate policies since 1992 hundreds of U.S. employers  Question: Why are so many employers adopting these policies?

Neoinstitutional Theory of Legal Compliance  Organizations most sensitive to legal environment should create EEO/AA structures earlier and at higher overall rates (Edelman 1548)  Factors: Proximity to public sphere Links to government Size Presence of HR department Unionization Organizational legal experience, and Region (id. at ).  Presence of a law is not a factor because the law she investigated was federal and applied to all companies  Edelman, Legal Ambiguity and Symbolic Structures: Organizational Mediation of Civil Rights Law, American Journal of Sociology, Volume 97 (1992),

Fortune 500  Exxon Wal-Mart GM Chevron Ford ConocoPhillips GE  Citigroup AIG IBM HP Bank of America Berkshire Hathaway Home Depot Valero  McKesson J.P. Morgan Chase Verizon Cardinal Health  Altria Kroger State Farm Marathon Oil P&G  Dell Boeing AmeriSourceBergen Costco Target  Morgan Stanley Pfizer J&J Sears  Merrill Lynch MetLife Dow United Health WellPoint  AT&T Goldman Sachs Lowe’s United Technologies  UPS Walgreens Wells Fargo Albertson’s  Microsoft Intel Medco Lockheed Martin  etc. etc. etc.

Adoption of “Gender Identity” Policies  148 Fortune 500 companies (30%) have adopted “gender identity” policies.

How fast is the process?

Where is the law?  Q: How many of these companies are headquartered in jurisdictions with gender identity laws?  A: 284 (57%)

HR Personnel Interviews  In interviews in 2003 with 42 HR personnel at companies with “gender identity” EEO policies, when asked why the policy was adopted, not one mentioned the law, and none were aware if there were a law in their jurisdiction.

Conversion rate of the law  284 companies affected by the law  148 created company policies  Conversion rate = 52% ????  No - some companies created company policies without laws in place

Q: How many companies adopted policies after the enactment of law?  A: 83  Thus, of the 284 companies subject to law, 29% adopted gender identity policies after the enactment of the law.  Q: Can we then say that the law has a 29% conversion rate?  A: No

How long from law to policy? There is a long “tail,” but the effect is strongest in the first 5 years.

Q: How many policies were adopted within 5 years of a law?  A: 53  Thus, of the 284 companies subject to law, 19% adopted gender identity policies after the enactment of the law.  Q: Can we then say that the law has a 19% conversion rate?  A: No

Taking the base rate into account  70 companies have done so with no law in place.  Thus, there is a 14% background “drift rate”.

How much faster is the rate of conversion with law? A: About one- third faster

Regional Effects

Conversion rates by region In the North and West, the law greatly increased conversion rates.