Top 100 U.S. Companies Supporting Healthy Families and Communities

Kim Ira, Aleksandra Radeva, Molly Stutzman, Laura Thornton, and Kavya Vaghul contributed to this report. 

Over the past year, Americans have faced unprecedented challenges – a pandemic that has devastated our nation’s safety, protests against police brutality that have spurred renewed calls for racial equity, and an election that called the very foundations of democracy into question. Through all of this, the health and safety of our communities has been at risk, with every American uniquely impacted by these events. And this includes more than just physical health – many Americans are also facing struggles with their financial and social well-being. Many have lost sources of income and struggle to support their families, while others have faced new challenges as employees on the front lines or as primary caregivers working from home. Communities of color, in particular, have been hardest hit throughout the pandemic, facing greater health impacts and higher rates of unemployment.

In 2020, JUST Capital continually turned to the public to learn what they wanted corporate America to prioritize during the time of COVID-19 – and we found that health and safety consistently topped their chief concerns. Despite this, in a survey we conducted this past spring with The Harris Poll, we learned that nearly 30% of people surveyed working outside of home do not feel safe and protected from contracting COVID-19 at work and one in five workers reports going to work sick since the start of the pandemic, with 67% of those employees doing so due to lack of sick leave, fear to losing their jobs, or fear of employer anger.

Health and safety has consistently been a priority for the American public. Building on our 2019 list of Top 100 U.S. Companies Supporting Healthy Communities and Families, JUST Capital – with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation – is identifying the companies that are taking action to address the urgent concerns of this moment and setting the bar for supporting their workers, the families they support, and the communities in which they operate. This year, we’ve compiled a list of the Top 100 U.S. Companies by evaluating their performance on 10 key issues from our 2021 Rankings – from providing adequate benefits and supporting work-life balance to combating climate change and protecting worker health and safety.

Compared with other companies in the Russell 1000, the top 100 performers: 

• Were 3.3 times more likely to provide additional paid sick leave provisions to their employees in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Were 2.5 times more likely to provide a wage increase for U.S workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Experienced 73% fewer controversies related to the health and environmental impacts of their products and services.
• Were 10.4 times more likely to contribute and/or pledge to COVID-19 relief organizations or efforts.
• Emitted 25% less Scope 1 and 2 emissions.
• Produce, on average, a 14.6 times lower NOx emission intensity.
• Were 8.2 times more likely to disclose the racial or ethnic diversity of their board of directors or director nominees.
• Outperformed the Russell 1000 benchmark by 4.6% over the trailing year.

As we reset from the challenges of the last year, corporate America has a unique role to play to rebuild not the economy of yesterday, but to construct a more equitable, just, and inclusive recovery that truly supports healthy communities and families across our country.

Explore the Top 100 companies taking the lead:

Methodology

This ranking leverages data from JUST Capital’s 2021 Rankings of America’s Most JUST Companies. Of the 19 Issues essential to just business, we collaborated with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to identify the 10 that best define how companies invest in the health and well-being of their workers, the families they support, and the communities in which they operate. The issues are:

• Pays a fair, livable wage.
• Cultivates a diverse and inclusive workplace.
• Protects worker health and safety.
• Provides benefits and work-life balance.
• Contributes to community development.
• Supports local communities.
• Makes products that do not harm.
• Helps combat climate change.
• Minimizes pollution.
• Prioritizes value creation for all stakeholders.

For more details on the underlying data used in this ranking, please see JUST Capital’s full rankings methodology.