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LEXIE CANNES STATE OF TRANS — The country’s largest grocer, The Kroger Company — owner of stores bearing its name and the names of others chains it purchased, like Fred Meyer, — is gearing up to offer full transgender benefits, including surgery and drug therapy to eligible employees beginning on January 1, 2016.

Kroger is the 5th largest private employer in the United States with 400,000 employees. Unlike many other corporations offering trans benefits, employment at Kroger is attainable for most trans people — hiring right out of high school, or even having no degree at all, is not a prerequisite for many Kroger entry positions.

I cannot overstate the relative ease of access to employment trans people have at many Kroger/Fred Meyer store locations. While it’s true, entry level positions may be only part-time and the work performed often not to ones’ taste, but the upside is huge — by seniority you’ll move to full-time, choice of better positions and even better pay. The company usually promote managers at the store level from within. Opportunities for a rewarding career exists for those with very little to begin with. And this is all on top of the new transgender health benefits.

I know of a number of transgender employees at Fred Meyer who have been there for decades. For the most part, Fred Meyer have always been trans friendly.

I am not sure of whether all union employees will have access to trans health care. This depends on individual contracts with the various locals, however it would appear that eventually all the contracts will include the same provision.

While many Fortune 500 companies offer trans benefits, employment opportunities were problematic sometimes since many trans people lack degrees or experience to get employed in the first place — not so with Kroger, they’re always hiring people whose main virtue is a desire to always show up and do a honest days work.

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http://www.forbes.com/sites/clareoconnor/2015/10/12/kroger-largest-u-s-supermarket-chain-offers-transgender-workers-full-health-benefits/

Watch LEXIE CANNES right now: http://www.amazon.com/Lexie-Cannes-CourtneyODonnell/dp/B00KEYH3LQ Or get the DVD: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0963781332

Read Lexie Cannes in The Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/courtney-odonnell/

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Categories: Discrimination, Equality, Civil Rights, Policy, Administrative, Transgender, Transsexual, Trans