Disability Equality Index reveals 2020 “Best Places to Work for Disability Inclusion”
Disability Equality Index report highlights industry trends and global insights
Washington, D.C., July 15, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The Disability Equality Index (DEI), the nation’s most comprehensive annual benchmarking tool, facilitated by leading non-profits Disability:IN and the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) have revealed this year’s 205 top-scoring companies. The DEI is a prominent benchmarking tool for the Fortune 1000 and America’s top 200 revenue grossing law firms (Am Law 200) to gauge their level of disability workplace inclusion against competitors. In its sixth official year, the DEI continues to see an increase in year-over-year participation, with the number of top-scoring companies more than quadrupling to 205 in 2020 as compared to 43 in 2015.
“The Disability Equality Index top scoring companies represent those businesses that have invested in accessibility and inclusion across their enterprise. As we celebrate the 30th anniversary of the ADA, it is wonderful to see the progress made by these companies, and we hope to see continued progress and support for the DEI over the next 30 years,” said Maria Town, President and CEO of AAPD.
Jill Houghton, President & CEO, Disability:IN said “The best way to attract, retain and grow talent with disabilities is to create an accessible, inclusive workplace. This year’s top scoring Disability Equality Index companies are demonstrating their commitment to many of the numerous leading disability inclusion practices featured in the DEI, recognizing that there’s still room for improvement. We are proud to have developed strong partnerships with corporate allies who are committed to advancing disability inclusion and equality across their businesses in the United States and around the world.”
Making the world inclusive for all isn’t only the right thing to do, it’s also good for business. The Accenture report “Getting to Equal: The Disability Inclusion Advantage,” produced in partnership with Disability:IN and the AAPD, found that companies that offered inclusive working environments for employees with disabilities achieved an average of: 28% higher revenue, 30% higher economic profit margins, and 2x net income of industry peers.
The potential for wide-scale impact grows, as in 2020, 247 companies participated in the DEI, accounting for a total U.S. workforce of 11 million people. This year, we saw significant growth in employee self-identifications rates. In 2020, 5.5% of current employees self-identify as having a disability compared to 3.7% in 2019 .
In addition, the efforts of disability inclusion in business is now a much larger conversation. With multi-national corporations operating outside of the United States, the DEI methodology was updated to reflect the changing landscape. The Non-U.S. Operations category continues to be not weighted but is an opportunity to collect non-discrimination policy language, ERG activity, and overall best practices from U.S. based companies with additional operations outside of the United States. Some findings include:
- 75% of those multinational companies reported operations outside of the U.S. have disability inclusive standards of non-discrimination in the workplace that apply to all employees compared to 69% in 2019.
- 42% of multinational companies also report their non-U.S. operations have established disability-focused Employee Resource Group (ERG) or Affinity Group chapters, compared to 41% in 2019.
- Top industries with operations outside of the U.S. include automotive (Canada, Mexico, and Latin America), advertising and marketing (Asia-Pacific), and energy and utilities (Europe, the Middle East and Africa).
Disability inclusion in business is a growing topic for investors in driving sustainable performance. A global investor coalition, representing more than $2.8 trillion in combined assets, have called on companies they invest in to become more disability inclusive, through a “Joint Investor Statement on Disability Inclusion.”¨The coalition is led by New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli and Oregon State Treasurer Tobias Read, and includes large institutional investors such as California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS) and non-U.S. investors such as Australian-based Ethical Partners Fund Management.
The 2020 DEI report highlights industry trends and the progress of advancing disability inclusion in business. A few include:
- Top participating industries include: technology, financial services, and healthcare.
- 85% of businesses with a company-wide written statement of commitment on diversity and inclusion specifically call out “disability.”
- 70% of businesses have an accessibility expert to resolve accessibility/compatibility issues necessary for people with disabilities to use technology systems.
For the full 2020 DEI Report, list of top-scoring companies, and to register for the 2021 DEI, please visit DisabilityEqualityIndex.org.
100 Score Companies
3M
Accenture
Adobe Inc.
Allstate Insurance Company
Ameren Corporation
American Airlines
American Electric Power
American Water
Aramark
AT&T
BAE Systems, Inc.
Bank of America
Best Buy
Biogen
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Rhode Island
Blue Shield of California
BMO Harris Bank
BNY Mellon
Boehringer Ingelheim
Booz Allen Hamilton
Boston Scientific Corporation
Bristol Myers Squibb
Capital One
Caterpillar Inc.
Centene Corporation
CenturyLink
Chevron
Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
Choice Hotels International
Cigna
Cisco Systems Inc.
Comcast NBCUniversal
Compass Group USA
Corning Incorporated
CVS Health
Dell Technologies
Deloitte
Delta Air Lines
Dominion Energy
Dow
DuPont
DXC Technology
Edison International
Eli Lilly and Company
Equitable
Ernst & Young LLP
Facebook, Inc.
Fidelity Investments
Florida Blue
Freddie Mac
Froedtert & The Medical College of Wisconsin
General Motors
GlaxoSmithKline plc
Grant Thornton LLP
Health Care Service Corporation
Hewlett Packard Enterprise
Highmark Health
HP Inc.
Humana
Huntington Bank
IFF
Intel Corporation
Johnson & Johnson
JPMorgan Chase & Co.
Kaiser Permanente
KPMG LLP
L’Oreal USA
Land O’Lakes, Inc.
Lincoln Financial Group
Lockheed Martin
Lowe’s Companies, Inc.
M&T Bank
ManpowerGroup
Marriott International, Inc.
MassMutual
Mastercard
Mathematica Policy Research
Mayo Clinic
McKesson
Medtronic plc
Merck
MetLife, Inc.
Microsoft
Motorola Solutions
Northern Trust
Northrop Grumman Corporation
Northwestern Mutual
Old National Bank
Oracle
Pacific Gas and Electric Company
Pfizer Inc.
PNC Financial Services Group, Inc.
PPL Corporation
Principal Financial Group
Prudential Financial
PwC
Qualcomm
Randstad US
Raytheon Company
Reed Smith
Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.
S&P Global
Salesforce.com, inc.
SAP America, Inc.
Siemens USA
Sodexo
Sony
Southern Company
Southwest Airlines
Spaulding Rehabilitation Network
State Street
Synchrony
T-Mobile
TD Bank
The Boeing Company
The Hartford
The Travelers Companies, Inc.
The Walt Disney Company
Thermo Fisher Scientific
Tracfone Wireless, Inc.
Tufts Health Plan, Inc.
U.S. Bank
U.S. Cellular
Ultimate Software
United Airlines Holdings, Inc.
United Services Automobile Association (USAA)
UnitedHealth Group
Unum
UPS
Verizon
Visa, Inc.
Voya Financial
Walgreens
Walmart Inc.
ZVRS and Purple Communications, a Division of ZP Better Together, LLC
90 Score Companies
Ally Financial Inc.
Amazon
American Multi-Cinema
Ameriprise Financial, Inc.
Anthem, Inc.
Astellas Pharma, Inc.
Barclays
Baxter International Inc.
Bayer
Baylor Scott & White Health
Becton Dickinson (BD)
Cargill, Inc.
Charles Schwab & Co.
Cintas Corporation
Citrix
Colgate-Palmolive
CSX Transportation, Inc.
DTE Energy
Dun & Bradstreet
Epstein Becker Green
Fannie Mae
Fifth Third Bank
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority
Fiserv
Fox Corporation
Franklin Templeton
General Dynamics Mission Systems
Grainger
Indeed
Iron Mountain
Jacobs Engineering Group Inc.
Jones Lang LaSalle, Inc.
Meijer
Nielsen
Pearson
Quest Diagnostics
Sanofi US
Steptoe & Johnson, LLP
The Coca-Cola Company
The Kroger Company
The MITRE Corporation
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
Viasat, Inc.
Whirlpool Corporation
Xcel Energy
80 Score Companies
Argonne National Laboratory
Brown Brothers Harriman
BT Americas
Consumers Energy
Cox Communications, Inc.
Cummins Inc.
CUNA Mutual Group
Empower Retirement
Ford Motor Company
General Dynamics Information Technology (GDIT)
Leidos Holdings
Norfolk Southern Corporation
Novant Health
PepsiCo
RRD
Rush University Medical Center
Target
TEKsystems
Uber Technologies
United Technologies Corporation
Unisys Corporation
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About the Disability Equality Index (DEI)
The Disability Equality Index (DEI) is a joint initiative of the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) and Disability:IN. Developed by the DEI Advisory Committee, a diverse group of business leaders, policy experts, and disability advocates, the DEI is a national, transparent, annual benchmarking tool that offers businesses an opportunity to receive an objective score, on a scale of zero (0) to 100, on their disability inclusion policies and practices.
The DEI is an aspirational, educational, recognition tool that is intended to help companies identify opportunities for continued improvement and help build a company’s reputation as an employer of choice.
The Disability Equality Index (DEI) brings together AAPD, the nation’s largest disability rights organization, and Disability:IN, the leading national business-to-business network, to collectively advance the inclusion of people with disabilities. The organizations are complimentary and bring unique strengths that make the project relevant and credible to corporate America and the disability community.
About the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD)
AAPD is a convener, connecter, and catalyst for change, increasing the political and economic power of people with disabilities. As one of the leading national cross-disability civil rights organizations, AAPD advocates for the full recognition of rights for the over 60 million Americans with disabilities. Learn more at: www.aapd.com.
About Disability:IN
Disability:IN is the leading nonprofit resource for business disability inclusion worldwide. Partnering with more than 220 corporations, Disability:IN expands opportunities for people with disabilities across enterprises. The organization and 27 affiliates raise a collective voice of positive change for people with disabilities in business. Through its programs and services, Disability:IN empowers businesses to achieve disability inclusion and equality, with the goal of advancing inclusion to the point when the organization is no longer necessary. Learn more at: www.disabilityin.org.
