Trailblazer Pacesetter LATE BLOOMER
Company Narrative
The Home Depot, a multinational home improvement retail corporation, has been ranked as LATE BLOOMER on the Women’s Power and Influence Index.
The Home Depot is committed to achieving pay equality and completes annual reviews of gender pay gaps. The Home Depot is committed to diversifying the trades industry, committing $50 million to help equip women to have a stronger presence in construction.
As of 2022, approximately 37% of The Home Depot’s workforce is women.
The Home Depot lacked sufficient information in many key criteria areas including pay parity, women’s mentorship and recruitment programs, women-specific healthcare benefits, and anti-harassment training.
Workforce Profile
Equitable Pay
✓ Does the company demonstrate a clear and transparent commitment to equal pay?
1) “Our Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) program seeks continual improvement through strategic action, review of practices and reporting of our initiatives. These actions support our business objectives by promoting associate satisfaction and retention, community partnerships, and innovation. Guided by our Core Value of Respect for All People, we also seek to foster equitable pay and promotion opportunities within our company.”
2) “The Home Depot’s Office of DEI leads the company’s diversity reporting, which includes gender, ethnicity and pay equity data for the company’s workforce.”
1) Ref: The Home Depot: Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion
2) Ref: The Home Depot Expands Reporting on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and Deforestation Efforts
✓ Does the company perform an annual analysis of gender pay equity and pay disparities?
“We disclose our gender and racial/ethnic minority pay equity for our U.S. workforce – 102% and 99%, respectively, on an adjusted basis for 2022 – and we commit to publishing a racial equity assessment report in 2023.”
Ref: Pg. 13, 2023 Home Depot ESG Report
✘ Do female employees earn at least 95% of what their male counterparts earn?
Information regarding this criterion was unavailable or incomplete.
Career Growth
✓ Does the company demonstrate a commitment to actively attracting, retaining, and/or promoting women within the organization?
“In addition, we are working to enlarge our network of external partner organizations to enhance the career development of our female, minority, LGBTQ+ and veteran associates.”
Ref: Pg. 28, 2023 Home Depot ESG Report
“They see the potential, set the vision and make it happen. Whether she owns her own construction company or spends her free time refinishing furniture in the garage, she’s building a better world – not just for herself, but for future generations.”
Ref: The Home Depot DIY Like Her
✓ Does the company provide professional development programs designed specifically for female employees?
“The Home Depot Foundation has pledged to invest $50 million to help diversify the trades industry through its Path to Pro programs. As part of our efforts in equipping women to have a stronger presence in the construction industry, The Home Depot Foundation’s Path to Pro Scholarships help empower women entering or currently enrolled in construction trade programs.”
Ref: The Home Depot DIY Like Her
✓ Does the company provide professional development programs designed specifically for diverse employees?
“Our associate resource groups (ARGs) drive associate engagement and promote inclusion through fostering development, raising cultural awareness, celebrating diversity and community outreach…We hosted approximately 40 virtual ARG events in fiscal 2022 to celebrate diversity, raise cultural awareness and foster professional development. Going forward, we’ll continue to expand the outreach efforts of our ARGs.”
Ref: The Home Depot Empowering Success
✓ Does the company offer a formal mentoring program to support the career advancement of all female employees?
“Our associate resource groups (ARGs) drive associate engagement and promote inclusion through fostering development, raising cultural awareness, celebrating diversity and community outreach. We hosted approximately 40 virtual ARG events in fiscal 2022 to celebrate diversity, raise cultural awareness and foster professional development. Going forward, we’ll continue to expand the outreach efforts of our ARGs.”
Ref: The Home Depot Empowering Success
✘ Does the company offer a formal mentoring program to support the career advancement of diverse employees?
Information regarding this criterion was unavailable or incomplete.
✓ Does the company have policies and programs in place to actively recruit female candidates?
“As we identify business opportunities, we’re able to work with these organizations to find the right diverse business to match our needs. When a business is certified with a partner organization, they are provided with opportunities to help them grow their business through mentorship and professional advice, education and training, networking events, and more. We’ve recently joined five new organizations: U.S. Black Chambers, Inc., National LGBT Chamber of Commerce, United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Disability:IN and National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development.”
Ref: The Home Depot Our Commitment to Supplier Diversity
✓ Does the company have policies and programs in place to actively recruit diverse candidates?
“As U.S. demographics continue to shift, so does the landscape of our customer base. Our employment marketing strategy is more than just recruiting associates – it is about acquiring diverse talent. As a result, our workforce is more ethnically diverse than the U.S. working population, which according to the 2016 U.S. Department of Labor statistics, is comprised of 38% minorities. Additionally, we are leading by example in the diversity of our Board of Directors and our C-suite leaders.”
Ref: Pg. 30, The Home Depot Responsibility Report 2017
Work-Life Balance
✓ Does the company demonstrate a commitment to providing support and/or time off for women with children?
“Taking care of our associates and their families is core to who we are. From health and wellness benefits to legal help and tuition reimbursement, we have a variety of benefits to make your life easier. Explore some of the options below and see how our benefits could work for you.”
Ref: The Home Depot Careers Benefits at The Home Depot
✓ Does the company provide child care support for employees?
“Access preferred enrollment and tuition discounts at local childcare centers that serve infants through elementary age children.”
Ref: The Home Depot Childcare Policy
✘ Does the company offer subsidized child care?
Information regarding this criterion was unavailable or incomplete.
✓ Does the company offer paid maternity leave for birthing parents?
“Birth mothers are eligible for an additional six- week paid maternity benefit, or eight weeks for a Cesarean section.”
Ref: Pg. 41, 2023 Home Depot ESG Report
✓Does the company provide paid parental leave that extends beyond birthing parents to include surrogacy, adoption, and paternity leave?
“Associates with at least one year of service who are having a baby, adopting or fostering a child can take six weeks of paid parental leave. This benefit is available to both mothers and fathers.”
Ref: Pg. 41, 2023 Home Depot ESG Report
✓ Does the company demonstrate a commitment to supporting the health benefits of its female employees?
“Knowing you have the proper tools to take care of yourself and your family is important. We offer resources so you know to support your family through every stage of life.”
Ref: The Home Depot Careers Benefits at The Home Depot
✓ Does the company offer women-specific health benefits for female employees?
“Women’s Preventive Services – Contraceptive Devices, Implants & Injectables—Medical plan covers associated office visit for the administration of injectable drugs, Diaphragm fitting, Cervical Cap, IUD & Norplant devices; see Pharmacy benefit for additional contraceptive coverages. – Voluntary Sterilization – Tubal Ligation (Reversals are Not Covered) – Prenatal Office Visits”
Ref: The Home Depot Health Benefits pg. 4
Workplace Standards
✓ Does the company have a policy listing prohibited behaviors, such as harassment and retaliation?
“We do not tolerate discrimination or harassment against any existing or potential associate regardless of race, color, sex (gender), sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, religion, national origin, disability, protected veteran or other uniformed service status or any other characteristic.”
Ref: 2023 Home Depot ESG Report
“The Home Depot will not tolerate harassment in the workplace. Harassment or disrespectful behavior can be verbal, non-verbal or physical. Examples include:
• Yelling or intimidating others, including making threats
• Offensive jokes, racial slurs or inappropriate comments regarding an individual’s ethnicity
• Sexual advances, requests for sexual favors or any other unwelcome visual, verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature”
Ref: The Home Depot Business Code of Conduct and Ethics Report 2016
✘ Does the company mandate all employees to undergo harassment and discrimination training?
Information regarding this criterion was unavailable or incomplete.
✓ Does the company have a defined harassment policy that includes promptly addressing reported incidents?
“It is your responsibility to tell your immediate supervisor or Corporate Compliance about situations when a conflict of interest may exist or could be created. Supervisors are encouraged to report any concerns to Corporate Compliance, which can assist with handling the situation.”
Ref: The Home Depot Business Code of Conduct and Ethics Report 2016
Stakeholder Engagement
✓ Does the company demonstrate a commitment to helping external stakeholders address gender equality issues?
“Ladies Who Launch (LWL) became a nonprofit in 2019 and is dedicated to elevating and empowering women and non-binary business owners and entrepreneurs. They support business owners by providing educational resources, funding, mentorship, networking and community. The Home Depot is proud to announce a $100,000 investment which will support the organization’s Launch Program, a six-month grant program that provides selected recipients a cash grant of $10,000, in addition to community, business education, mentorship and more.
Through partnerships with groups like Ladies Who Launch, The Home Depot continues to build a more diverse, equitable and inclusive organization, within our enterprise and the communities we’re proud to serve.”
Ref: The Home Depot Supporting Women and Non-Binary Entrepreneurs with Ladies Who Launch Partnership
✓ Does the company offer and support initiatives that promote gender equality in the community?
“A career in the field of technology remains out of reach for many. According to the Top Companies for Women Technologists 2021 report, women only represent 26.7% of the Tech Industry – a 2.1% drop since 2020. To support advancing diverse representation, the company has been partnering with Women Who Code (WWC) since 2018. This partnership supports women already in tech and creates accessible opportunities for diverse talent to explore and begin a career in technology. ”
Ref: The Home Depot’s Women Who Code Are Creating Opportunities in Technology
✓ Does the company demonstrate a commitment to helping internal stakeholders/employees address gender equality issues?
“The Home Depot’s Supplier Diversity strategy includes ethnic-minority, women, LGBTQ+, veteran and disability-owned business partners. We value a supply chain ecosystem that is diverse, drives innovation, allows us to provide the best customer experience and creates economically healthy communities.”
Ref: Pg. 84, 2023 Home Depot ESG Report
“Our associate resource groups (ARGs) promote our culture of inclusion and support diversity and help drive associate engagement. Our associate resource groups are led by associates and sponsored by executive leaders. They drive associate engagement and promote inclusion across our company through fostering professional development, raising cultural awareness, celebrating diversity, and offering community outreach opportunities. They are a powerful resource for our associates to connect on important issues and serve as a valuable link to support our DEI initiatives.”
Ref: The Home Depot Associate Engagement
✓ Does the company offer equity-focused trainings, speaker programs, or events for employees?
“We launched Caring Conversations in 2020 in response to the unrest in our communities. The virtual events for all associates included panel discussions where senior company leaders shared candid stories about race and ethnicity, and experts from outside our company educated associates about civil rights, laws, voting and more. Caring Conversations have evolved into C.A.R.E. Talks, a series of diversity discussions that Champion Awareness, Respect and Equity for all associates. These discussions include external speaker series, panel discussions and small group listening sessions, and we occasionally partnered with our ARGs on elevating keynote speakers in this format.”