Best Buy honored for disability employment policies

MINNEAPOLIS Best Buy announced that it has received the Secretary of Labor’s 2008 New Freedom Initiative Award from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy in honor of outstanding efforts and commitment to improving the workplace for Best Buy employees and customers with disabilities. The Minnesota-based company is the first corporation in the state to receive the award.

This award recognizes the efforts of INCLUDE, an Employee Business Network (EBN or affinity group) operating inside of Best Buy helping build its disability-inclusive culture.

“The best thing about this recognition is that the great ideas came from our own employees who intimately understood, and continue to understand, the opportunities. They’re improving productivity of our employees and improving our customers experiences by addressing everything from subtitling our training DVDs, to covering hearing aids in our company health insurance plans, to collaborating with organizations to develop relationships with new customers and potential employees,” said John Pershing, evp of human capital for Best Buy.