Photo by Aris on Unsplash
TAKE THE LEAD | via PR Newswire | Disability Equality Index names Amtrak best for disability inclusion | WASHINGTON — On the 2022 Disability Equality Index (DEI®), which evaluates the concrete steps that businesses take to ensure the inclusion and equality of people with disabilities in the workplace, Amtrak achieved the best possible score, which is the maximum possible score. The Disability Equality Index (DEI), which has a score out of 100 and is the most comprehensive tool for assessing disability inclusion, is used by 415 businesses as a benchmark for their efforts to increase disability inclusion.
The American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD), the nation’s largest organization advocating for the rights of people with disabilities, and Disability:IN, the global business disability inclusion network, have collaborated to create the Disability Equality Index (DEI). Together, these two organizations work to advance the inclusion of people with disabilities. The evaluation was first introduced in 2015 by Disability:IN and the AAPD. It evaluates corporate policies and practices that assist businesses in developing a road map for the inclusion of people with disabilities in the workplace.
“We are thrilled to receive a score of 100 and we’ll challenge ourselves to find ways to take our efforts for disability inclusion even further,” said Stephen Gardner, CEO at Amtrak. “At Amtrak, doing the right thing is a core value and we remain dedicated to maintaining our Best Places to Work status.”
The 2022 DEI assigns scores to enterprises based on granular criteria that are categorized into the following five central pillars:
- Culture & Leadership
- Enterprise-Wide Access
- Employment Practices (Benefits, recruitment, employment, education, retention, advancement, and accommodations)
- Community Engagement
- Supplier Diversity
“At Amtrak, we feel proud to provide a workplace where employees are respected, have a voice and belong,” said Qiana Spain, Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resource Officer at Amtrak.”We look forward to continually improving workplace equity as we focus on welcoming and celebrating all employees at Amtrak.”
Amtrak is committed to fostering a culture that values and recognizes the contributions of all of its staff members, and the company says it is excited to continue enhancing workplace equity.
At Amtrak, personnel, programs, and vendors comprise a diversified work environment. Amtrak recognizes the importance of diverse and inclusive behavior that enables employees to reach their full potential. This importance is demonstrated by the company’s adoption of an all-encompassing diversity and inclusion strategy for recruiting, welcoming and onboarding, engaging, developing, and promoting employees. There are currently eight employee resource groups at Amtrak, and one of them is specifically for people in the disability community and their allies.
Amtrak is an important form of transportation for people who have various types of disabilities. Amtrak has made great strides since 2011 toward its goal of increasing the accessibility of a wide variety of amenities. Amtrak is committed to providing free and unobstructed access to and from trains as well as throughout stations, with a focus on universal design as the guiding principle behind their efforts.
You can read the entire study on the website that was provided, which is www.DisabilityEqualityIndex.org.
SOURCE: Amtrak
