TRADE Union Congress (TUC) General Secretary Frances O’Grady has called on firms to pay disabled workers fairly – after a report revealed that able-bodied workers were being paid nearly £4000 a year more on average.
She said it was vital now that there was mandatory reporting of salary differences between disabled workers and others.
The same report showed that disabled female workers were being paid less by over £7,000 a year.
O’Grady said: “Everybody deserves a fair chance to get a job with decent pay. Being disabled should not mean you’re on a lower wage – or that you’re excluded from the jobs market altogether.
“It’s time to introduce mandatory disability pay gap reporting to shine a light on inequality at work. Without this, millions of disabled workers will be consigned to years of lower pay and in-work poverty.
“During the pandemic, many disabled people were able to work flexibly or from home for the first time. We must ensure this continues – flexible workplaces are accessible workplaces and give everyone a better work-life balance.
“Ministers must change the law so that all jobs are advertised with flexible options clearly stated, and all workers have the legal right to work flexibly from their first day in a job.”
In a letter to the government, the TUC demanded immediate action to address the disability pay gap.
It also requested that all firms with more than 50 employees be required to declare their disability pay gaps and the law should be supported by a requirement that businesses create action plans outlining the actions they would take to close any gaps found.
The TUC designated Monday, November 7 as Disability Pay Disparity Day this year as a result of this pay gap, which has climbed to 16.5 per cent since last year.
TUC calculations show that for 54 days in the year, any disabled employee was providing work for free in contrast to their able-bodied counterparts.
The study also demonstrates that the disability pay gap affects workers at all stages of their employment.
It begins at 65p per hour at age 20 and rises progressively with age to a maximum of £3.55 per hour, or £6,461 per year, for disabled employees between the ages of 40 and 44.
The TUC report also looked at the pay data from across the country and found disability pay gaps in every region of England.
These were in the South East – 22 per cent or £2.78 an hour; in the West Midlands and South West – 17 per cent or £2.20 an hour, respectively – being among the highest disparities.
Also, the report cited industry-specific disability pays inequalities exist.
The biggest pay gap is in financial and industrial services, where the pay gap stands at 39 per cent or £5.90 an hour, followed by agriculture, forestry, and fishing (24 per cent) and mining and quarrying and admin and support services (both 18 per cent).
Workers with disabilities are nearly twice as likely to be jobless as those without disabilities (6.8 per cent versus 3.4 per cent).
And the data demonstrates that the labour market is substantially more difficult for BAME disabled workers; 10.9 per cent of BAME disabled workers are unemployed, compared to 2.8 per cent of non-disabled white workers.
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