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The following letter has been sent to the Human Resource Managers of all of the Fortune 500 companies. A link to the questionnaire is found in the column to the left. July 26, 2000 Manager's Name Re: Fortune 500 Survey on Unmarried Workers Dear Manager: There are more than 80 million unmarried adults in the United States. Many of your employees and customers are single, as are some of your friends, relatives, and neighbors. But unlike other classes of people in America, such as women, racial minorities, seniors, people with disabilities, and gays and lesbians, unmarried Americans have not had a collective voice speaking on their behalf as decisions about their lives have been made by elected officials and corporate executives. That is why the American Association for Single People was formed about 18 months ago. AASP is a nonprofit and nonpartisan organization promoting the well being and human rights of unmarried adults, couples, parents, and families. We are concerned about the welfare of single people as employees, tenants, consumers, and taxpayers. In response to requests from many of our members, AASP has launched a Singles Friendly Workplace Campaign. Information about the campaign is contained in our most recent newsletter, a copy of which is enclosed. Although we are a relatively new organization, AASP now has members in 40 states. Many political activists, elected officials, and book authors are joining AASP to show they care about the well being of single people. About 40 percent of the nation’s full-time adult workforce is unmarried. Single employees probably constitute a large segment of your own workforce. Some live alone. Others have roommates or domestic partners. Some are single parents. And still others live with adult relatives. A number of articles published in recent years by human resource professionals and associations suggest that single people may be experiencing inadvertent workplace discrimination. Although unmarried employees have been silent about this problem in the past, more of them are beginning to speak up, and some personnel departments are beginning to think beyond traditional notions of "diversity" and "family friendly." We have dedicated a major section on our website – unmarriedAmerica.com – to the Workplace Campaign. The website contains statistics, demographics, economic information, and recent articles published about single people in the workplace. Your staff may find it helpful as your company periodically reviews and updates your own personnel policies and benefits programs. The first step in the Workplace Campaign is to survey what is currently happening in corporate America. We need to find out how employers are responding to the needs of unmarried workers. Perhaps there are some model programs in place. Or maybe single people are not even on the corporate radar screen when it comes to EEO policies, benefits plans, work-family programs, work-life programs, or employee support groups. We are writing to you as a part of our Fortune 500 Survey on Unmarried Employees. Large and successful corporations such as yours are often in the vanguard when it comes to designing and implementing workplace programs and policies that are often benchmarks to the industry which you lead. This survey is not duplicating other efforts or projects. We are the first national organization to conduct such a survey on behalf of the millions of unmarried workers in the United States. Because this survey is unique, your help is urgently needed. We are sending this to you as the head of your company’s human resource division with the assumption that you would be the logical person to respond. However, if we have misdirected this communication, please forward the questionnaire to the appropriate person in your company. The questionnaire is short, with seven primary question areas. We will tabulate the results of the survey and publish a report in December 2000. In order to meet this deadline, we will need your company’s response by October 15. We will be happy to share the results of the survey with you when it is completed. The names of participating companies will be noted in our publicity releases to major media outlets. Thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to consider this request. If you have any questions, please call me directly. Sincerely yours, Thomas F. Coleman Enclosures: Survey and Reply Envelope
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