At XPO, we have an absolute commitment to providing a safe workplace for all our employees. Precisely because of this commitment, we were deeply disturbed by the allegations in recent media coverage concerning one of our warehouses, and we immediately took action to investigate them, as we describe below.

Creating a supportive workplace is an ongoing process and one of our highest priorities. Our goal is to continually reinforce a workplace culture based on our values: safe, respectful, entrepreneurial, inclusive, and innovative. We work hard to reach and train all of our approximately 100,000 colleagues to ensure our entire workforce, at every level, understands our values and knows how to bring them to life in their work every day.

We also foster a culture in which people feel free to speak up. We encourage our employees to voice concerns – including anonymously – without any fear of reprisal and to stand up for what is right. When an employee raises a concern, we immediately investigate and take prompt remedial action where warranted.

We have engaged an independent expert who is investigating all allegations

Constant improvement based on honest self-reflection is in our DNA. In May, we engaged Tina Tchen, who has established herself as a nationally recognized leader and advocate in areas where we want to be sure we are as strong as possible, including gender equity and workplace cultural compliance.

Ms. Tchen’s review was initially designed to identify what XPO is doing right and, more importantly, what we can do to improve our workplace culture. When allegations relating to pregnancy accommodation were first raised, we immediately asked her to expand the review and investigate them thoroughly. She and her team will take the time necessary to be thorough and when the investigation is completed, we’re committed to implementing any recommended improvements under her broad mandate.

We are implementing additional enhancements to our benefits and pregnancy accommodations policy

At the same time, we’re taking proactive steps to enhance our policies. After many months of deliberation as a senior leadership team, and with the input of Ms. Tchen and other experts, we are providing our employees with a set of progressive new policies and benefits based on what we believe is a better way to support pregnant women and their families in the workplace.

This package includes our new policy on pregnancy, which is grounded in our belief that pregnancy should not be classified as a disability; rather, we chose to develop our policy based on the premise that pregnancy is a natural part of life. Therefore, while disability benefits will also be available if needed, our new approach is tailor-made to provide the kind of support pregnant women need, without penalizing them in any way for any temporary change in the nature of their work.

We continue to have zero tolerance for discrimination or harassment

We also work hard to be sure all our employees know that XPO does not tolerate any form of discrimination or harassment – period. We treat any reports of this nature with utmost seriousness, thoroughly investigate claims, and take decisive action if our policies have been violated or if they need to be improved.

We hope we have demonstrated the seriousness of our commitment to providing a safe workplace for our employees and the thoughtful approach we’ve taken in developing these important new initiatives. We are committed to continually renewing a workplace culture based on our values, and we thank each of our employees for the critical role they play in making that a reality, every day.