Dive Brief:
- This past Sunday, America celebrated the 25th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities (ADA) Act. Even with the law, employers have yet to realize the untapped potential of the disabled community as suppliers, consumers and employees, said Keith Wiedenkeller, a chief strategy officer for the Disability Equality Index (DEI), to the Human Resource Executive.
- A joint initiative of the American Association of People with Disabilities and the U.S. Business Leadership Network, the DEI is a national benchmarking tool that objectively scores businesses on a scale of 0 to 100 regarding their disability inclusion policies and practices, according to HRE.
- Created by a diverse group of business leaders, policy experts and disability advocates, the survey was designed to help companies identify opportunities for continued improvement, Wiedenkeller told HRE.
Dive Insight:
“The ADA was groundbreaking legislation that took down physical barriers and made it illegal to discriminate against employees, but it didn’t change people’s hearts and minds and give employers a reason to hire people with disabilities,” said Wiedenkeller, a former DEI Advisory Committee member.
The first annual DEI was completed by 80 Fortune 1000-size companies, and results came out in April. Nineteen of these companies received a perfect score of 100, including telecom company Sprint and PricewaterhouseCoopers. Points are awarded in four major categories: culture and leadership, enterprise-wide access, employment practices, and community engagement and support services.
“If you make a change in policy at a large company, the leverage is indisputable,” Wiedenkeller said. “The point of the survey is not a ‘gotcha.’ If you participate, no one knows but you and our team. If you score above an 80, we publicize that. If not, that’s an internal benchmarking.”
