🇩🇪 Who's Leading Disability Inclusion in Germany

This is one entry in InkludX's Inclusion Atlas — a country-by-country, segment-by-segment scan of the organizations across Europe genuinely recognized for their disability-inclusion employment work: an award won, a scaled program, or a policy fingerprint behind the claim, not just a mention of "inclusion" on a website. Germany is one of InkludX's 5 launch markets.

Inclusive employers

• SAP — Global enterprise software company. In July 2024 it published its third action plan for the participation of people with disabilities (after editions in 2013 and 2017), focused on prevention and holistic inclusion; its inclusion programmes for neurodivergent people include Autism@Work. Source.
• Deutsche Bahn — National rail operator. Employs 12,369 people with disabilities (as of January 2026). Source.
• BVG — Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe — Berlin's public transport operator. In a 2020 profile, its disability representatives cited 1,308 severely disabled colleagues (as of September 2020) and BVG's participation in “Schichtwechsel”, a one-day-a-year job swap between sheltered-workshop and BVG staff. Source.

Public agencies & welfare bodies

• Bundesagentur für Arbeit — Federal Employment Agency. Its “Aktionsplan Inklusion” implements the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which Germany ratified in 2009; inclusive participation in working life is one of the plan's fields of action. Source.
• BIH — Bundesarbeitsgemeinschaft der Inklusionsämter — Federal working group of Germany's Integration and Inclusion Offices. The offices advise employers and employees individually on financial support, and in the joint BIH recommendations they have agreed common standards and guidelines for that funding. Source.
• Senatsverwaltung Berlin — State labour/social affairs administration. In 2025 it awarded the Berlin Inclusion Prize, worth €10,000, to four employers — three for inclusive employment and one for inclusive vocational training. Source.

NGOs & advocacy orgs

• *Sozialheldinnen e.V.* — Berlin-based association whose projects include Leidmedien.de, Wheelmap and JOBinklusive. Its honours include the Deutscher Mobilitätspreis (2016), the Ruderman Preis für Inklusion (2016) and a Grimme Online Award nomination for Leidmedien (2013).* Source.
• Sozialverband VdK Deutschland — Social advocacy association covering disability and chronic illness. Campaigns for better access to the general labour market for disabled people; in July 2026 it called for more inclusion and stronger workplace representation for severely disabled employees (Schwerbehindertenvertretungen). Source.
• Aktion Mensch — Social lottery that funds inclusion projects across Germany. Produces the annual Inklusionsbarometer Arbeit together with the Handelsblatt Research Institute. Source.

Certification & standards bodies

• Charta der Vielfalt e.V. — Describes itself as Germany's largest employer initiative for workplace diversity. Over 6,800 signatory organisations representing over 14.7 million employees; “physical and mental abilities” is one of its seven diversity dimensions. Source.
• Aktion Mensch-Siegel — Seal companies can display for 12 months after buying Aktion Mensch lottery tickets. It signals support for social inclusion projects rather than certifying inclusive employment; Aktion Mensch reports that 95% of Germans know its name (Kantar brand study, 2025). Source.
• Inklusionsbetriebe (§§ 215 ff. SGB IX) — Legally defined form of employment for people with severe disabilities. Inklusionsbetriebe employ between 30 and 50 percent people with severe disabilities; the Integration and Inclusion Offices support them, and BIH publishes a recommendation for Inklusionsbetriebe. Source.

Social enterprises & placement providers

• auticon — IT and neurodiversity consultancy. Describes itself as the world's largest majority-autistic IT consultancy, offering its services since 2009. Source.
• discovering hands — Trains blind and visually impaired women as Medical Tactile Examiners (MTUs) for breast-cancer early detection. According to the organisation, MTUs detect around 30% more and 50% smaller tissue changes than doctors; its awards include the EESC Award (2017). Source.
• Inklusionsbetriebe network — Companies where people with and without disabilities work together. They employ between 30 and 50 percent people with severe disabilities; a related instrument, the “Budget für Arbeit”, gives severely disabled people a permanent alternative to working in a sheltered workshop (BIH). Source.

Awards, media & recognition programs

• Bundesteilhabepreis — Federal participation award from the BMAS. The 7th edition (2026) focused on inclusive transitions from vocational training into work for young disabled people, with €17,500 total prize money. Source.
• Inklusionsbarometer Arbeit — Annual index produced by the Handelsblatt Research Institute with Aktion Mensch since 2013. Its 13th edition appeared in 2025. Source.
• JobErfolg-Inklusionspreis (Bavaria) — State award since 2005 from the Bavarian social ministry and the Bavarian government's commissioner for disability. Honours Bavarian employers in the categories public service, private sector, honorary prize and innovation prize. Source.

HR-tech & inclusive-hiring platforms

• myAbility.jobs — Job platform run by myAbility. myAbility helps employers make recruiting accessible and reach qualified disabled candidates through myAbility.jobs and its Talent® programme. Source.
• REHADAT-talentplus — Employer portal that is part of REHADAT, a project of the Institut der deutschen Wirtschaft Köln funded by the BMAS from the Ausgleichsfonds. Provides employers with information on hiring people with disabilities and on funding options. Source.
• auticon — Beyond being a social-enterprise employer, a specialised recruiting model for autistic IT talent. All of its IT specialists are autistic (with a diagnosis or certificate); administrative and organisational roles are open to all applicants. Source.

Sourced and independently re-verified. Every entry above was gathered via web research and then checked against its cited source in a separate verification pass; entries that didn't hold up were corrected or removed. Sourcing can still go stale — award years, figures, and program status may change.

Spot something wrong, out of date, or missing? Get in touch — this map only gets better with local eyes on it, and we fold every correction back in.