Merck has published a sustainability report every year for 13 years. Its website still states that the company was among the first in the U.S. to disclose its EEO-1 data and that it continues to do so annually. The report … Read More
dei
The Fight Over EEO-1 Isn’t Really About Paperwork
The public comment period on the EEOC’s proposal to eliminate EEO-1 reporting closed on August 24. The docket contains 2,580 comments. The overwhelming majority oppose rescission. That headline number isn’t worth much on its own: more than 1,800 submissions came through three … Read More
PayPal’s DEI Settlement, JPMorgan’s Governance Fight, and the Great Corporate Relabeling
Everything Is DEI Now The Justice Department announced a settlement this week with PayPal over its 2020 Economic Opportunity Fund, which invested in Black and minority-owned businesses. Under the settlement, PayPal will replace the program with a new initiative focused on veterans, … Read More
Disclosure Is Collapsing, Synchrony Is Winning Without RTO, and the EEOC Changes the Rules Again
Proxy Season Is Mostly Over. Meeting Season Isn’t. We’re effectively at the end of proxy reporting season. PeopleReturn has now processed nearly 2,400 Russell 3000 proxy statements filed in 2026, and the filing rush is largely behind us. But the … Read More
HRC Corporate Equality Index Shows Record Policy Adoption Despite Survey Participation Decline
The Human Rights Campaign’s (HRC) 2026 Corporate Equality Index (CEI) reveals a notable disconnect: while direct survey participation among Fortune 500 companies dropped 65%, comprehensive analysis of workplace policies shows LGBTQ+ inclusion practices reaching record highs across public companies. Participation vs. Policy … Read More
Board Diversity Continues to Plateau
A new USA Today story highlights what many have suspected: the push to diversify corporate boards is losing steam. According to ISS-Corporate, women accounted for just one-third of new S&P 500 board seats in 2025, down sharply from a high of 44% in 2022. … Read More
Five Sustainability and Human Capital Disclosure Trends
Back in May, we published a detailed analysis of proxy season disclosure trends. We are finalizing a research paper analyzing trends across all sustainability-related disclosures covering workforce representation, employee development, pay equity, and board of directors—sign up now to get the full report … Read More
The State of Human Capital and DEI in 3 Charts
Last month, we highlighted the drastic pullback in board diversity disclosures early in this shareholder season. With nearly 2,500 Russell 3000 companies publishing their proxy statements, today we’re providing a more comprehensive look at board disclosure trends. Overall, there has been an … Read More
DEI Rollbacks in Full Effect this Proxy Season
Update: Our full proxy season analysis is now available for download here. With the Nasdaq Board Diversity Rule no longer in effect and heightened legal and regulatory uncertainty around what constitutes “illegal DEI,” a decline in board demographic disclosures was … Read More
The 2025 Human Rights Campaign Corporate Equality Index
Happy new year, and welcome to 2025! This year is starting similar to how last year ended—on Monday, McDonald’s issued a press release titled “Our Commitment to Inclusion at McDonald’s”—and predictably all the headlines read something along the lines of ‘McDonald’s is … Read More