The HRC Foundation’s annual CEI is the leading U.S. assessment of LGBTQ+ workplace equality. As a proudly inclusive company, RS is honored to have earned its first Equality 100 Award.

FORT WORTH, Texas, January 13, 2025 - RS, a global product and service solutions provider for industrial customers, has earned a score of 100 on the Human Rights Campaign Foundation's (HRCF) 2025 Corporate Equality Index, the nation's foremost benchmarking survey and report measuring corporate policies and practices related to LGBTQ+ workplace equality. RS is amongst 765 U.S. businesses that were honored with the HRCF's Equality 100 Award as Leaders in LGBTQ+ Workplace Inclusion. This year's CEI includes 1,449 businesses — the highest number of rated companies since the start of the CEI in 2002.

"We are thrilled to have earned our first Equality 100 Award," said D'Mar Phillips, Vice President, People, and Culture - RS Americas. "This year marks our third year participating in the HRCF's Corporate Equality Index, and achieving a perfect score highlights the successful expansion of RS policies and benefits that support our LGBTQ+ team members. Creating an inclusive environment where everyone can bring their best selves to work is fundamental to our success. We remain dedicated to listening, learning, and growing to ensure our employees are heard, represented, and respected at work."

"The CEI is so much more than a score on paper. For decades businesses have relied on the CEI as a tool for transparency and leveling the playing field for all workers, making sure LGBTQ+ people and their families can share in fair, respectful, and supportive workplaces and benefits," said RaShawn "Shawnie" Hawkins, SHRM-CP, HRCF Senior Director of Workplace Equality. "As conversations evolve on corporate America's approach to diversity, equity and inclusion, year-over-year growth in CEI participation is evidence of a business community that largely recognizes the responsibility and value in upholding equity and inclusion. Our goal at the Human Rights Campaign Foundation is to work in a spirit of partnership with companies, providing educational resources and leading benchmarking. The work of the CEI is to help businesses to expand their consumer base and attract top, innovative talent by supporting the LGBTQ+ community."

The results of the 2025 CEI showcase how U.S.-based companies are promoting LGBTQ+ friendly workplace policies in the U.S. and abroad. The first year of the CEI included 319 participants, and the 2025 CEI now surveys 1,449 participants, further demonstrating the tremendous growth of the CEI. A record-breaking 98% of CEI businesses have non-discrimination protections specific to gender identity.

The CEI rates employers providing these crucial protections to more than 22 million U.S. workers and includes Fortune magazine's 500 largest publicly traded businesses, American Lawyer magazine's top 200 revenue-grossing law firms (AmLaw 200), and hundreds of publicly and privately held mid- to large-sized businesses.

The CEI rates companies on detailed criteria falling under four central pillars:
• Non-discrimination policies across business entities
• Equitable benefits for LGBTQ+ workers and their families
• Supporting an inclusive culture
• Corporate social responsibility
For more information about the HRCF's 2025 CEI, click the links embedded here or visit www.hrc.org/cei to view the full report, learn more about the 2025 CEI criteria, review the CEI myths vs. facts resource, and search for employers. For more information about RS, please visit us.rs-online.com/about-us/.

About The Human Rights Campaign Foundation
The Human Rights Campaign Foundation (HRCF) is the educational arm of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), America's largest civil rights organization working to achieve equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ+) people. Through its programs, the HRC Foundation seeks to make transformational change in the everyday lives of LGBTQ+ people, shedding light on inequity and deepening the public's understanding of LGBTQ+ issues, with a clear focus on advancing transgender and racial justice. Its work has transformed the landscape for more than 15 million workers, 11 million students, 1 million clients in the adoption and foster care system and so much more. The HRC Foundation provides direct consultation and technical assistance to institutions and communities, driving the advancement of inclusive policies and practices; it builds the capacity of future leaders and allies through fellowship and training programs; and, with the firm belief that we are stronger working together, it forges partnerships with advocates in the U.S. and around the globe to increase our impact and shape the future of our work.

About RS
RS is a global product and service solutions provider for industrial customers, enabling them to operate efficiently and sustainably.

We operate in 36 markets, stock over 800,000 industrial and specialist products, and list an additional five million relevant for our industrial customers, sourced from over 2,500 suppliers. This extensive range supports our customers across the industrial lifecycle of designing, building, and maintaining equipment and operations. We enhance their experience through a tailored service model, leveraging our efficient physical, digital, and process infrastructure sustainably. We combine a technically led and digitally enabled approach with an exceptional team of experts; ultimately, it's our people that make the difference.

Our purpose, making amazing happen for a better world, reflects our focus on delivering results for people, planet, and profit.

RS Group plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange with stock ticker RS1 and in the year ended 31 March 2024 reported revenue of £2,942 million.

For more information, please visit https://www.rsgroup.com/ or connect with us on LinkedIn or X (Twitter).

About RS in the Americas
In the Americas region, RS stocks more than 250,000 industrial and electronic products from more than 700 trusted suppliers. These solutions cover categories extending from automation and control equipment to interconnect, passive, active, and electromechanical components and include more than 80,000 high-quality, competitively priced RS PRO products. For more information, please visit https://us.rs-online.com or connect with us via social media on Facebook, X (Twitter), LinkedIn, and YouTube.