company. Prior to joining Chubb
more than four years ago, none
of the places where Hannan
previously worked had domestic-partner benefits. At the same time
Chubb offered him a job, another
company was wooing him. “The
offers were identical with one
exception. Chubb offered domestic-partner benefits,” Hannan says.
“The benefits program tipped
things in Chubb’s favor. I need
those benefits and I could not get
them elsewhere.”
Kathleen Marvel, Chubb’s chief
diversity officer and senior vice
president, says the company started offering domestic-partner
health-insurance benefits in 1994,
two years before it had a GLBT
employee-resource group.
“We implemented it before we
had a need for it,” she says. “It was
very much ahead of its time.”
Marvel says having these benefits
has helped Chubb recruit and retain
employees. “I’ve had a number of
straight employees who call me and
say, ‘This is one of the things that
made me choose Chubb.’”
She also recalls a recent incident
in which a Chubb employee was
being courted by another company.
The company that was attempting
to hire the Chubb employee away
did not have domestic-partner
benefits or a GLBT employee-resource group. “He was retained
[by Chubb]. It certainly makes a
difference to people who use the
benefit,” she says.
Like Hannan, the benefits also
have made Crespo very loyal to
her company. “Even before Ernst
& Young had the benefits, they
were trying to do the right things
for [GLBT] employees,” Crespo
says. “It lets you feel like you’re a
bigger part of things. It lets you
know exactly where you stand with
the company.” DI
