Network Rail has won this year’s Recruitment Industry Disability Initiative (RIDI) Disability Confident Award for its commitment to becoming a more diverse and inclusive employer.
The awards feature a judging panel made up of disability experts and senior industry leaders and are designed to celebrate the best of disability confident recruitment.
The results were announced on 3rd December, the International Day of Disabled People.
Network Rail earned recognition for its Everyone Matters diversity and inclusion strategy and the Disability Matters workstream it delivers as part of the strategy.
The five-year diversity and inclusion strategy was published in 2019.
The strategy was planned and developed with the input of disabled colleagues and the disabled employee network CanDo.
The Disability Matters project has provided the opportunity for employees to meet and ask questions around disabilities whilst working at home during the Covid-19 pandemic.
This also saw Network Rail’s adjustments guidance for employees and their line managers get updated.
Andrew Haines, Network Rail Chief Executive and Sir Peter Hendy CBE have pledged to increase the number of disabled employees.
This comes as figures show less than 3% of Network Rail’s 44,000-strong workforce have shared that they are disabled or have a long-term health condition.
Network Rail spoke on what it means to win the award and their commitment to becoming a more diverse and inclusive employer.
Loraine Martins OBE, Network Rail’s Director of Diversity and Inclusion said: “I am delighted that we have won this Disability Confident Award.
“Becoming a more diverse and inclusive employer is vital for us, and this award signals that we are on the right track.
“I would like to thank all colleagues involved in making Network Rail a better place to work.
“We will continue to make progress through our Disability Matters initiative and through working with our CanDo employee network.
“This is great recognition, and we know that we still have much more to accomplish.”
