Disability pay gap

Disability pay gap stubbornly wide

I doubt that any of us would be pleased to learn that we are expected to work for nothing from mid-November to the end of the year, but this is effectively what happens to disabled people, thanks to the disability pay gap.

Analysis by the TUC shows disabled workers earning £2.24 an hour less on average (a 15.5% pay gap), which leaves them making over £4,000 a year less than non-disabled workers.

You may not be surprised to learn the situation is even worse if you are a disabled woman…
 

12th November – when work stops paying!

Disabled workers effectively stop earning from 12th November, because of the disability pay gap, meaning that they’ll effectively work for free from then until the end of the year.

The gap means that disabled employees working 35 hours a week are down by more than £4,000 a year compared to non-disabled workers on average.

This amounts to a 15.5% disability pay gap. While this represents a welcome modest improvement from last year (when the gap was 17.2%), the TUC warns it is still substantial and needs urgent action to tackle.

The gap is even wider for disabled women, as non-disabled men earn over a quarter (27.3%) more than disabled women.
 

Double whammy – higher unemployment rate

TUC analysis also shows that the unemployment rate among disabled people is now the highest it has been since before the pandemic – more than double the unemployment rate for non-disabled people. This highlights the failure of attempts by previous governments to support disabled people into work.

On top of higher unemployment rates and lower earnings, disabled people also face higher living costs.
On average, according to Scope analysis disabled people have to fork out an additional £1,224 a month to secure the same standard of living as a non-disabled person.

The costs disabled people face can include higher gas and electricity bills to keep the homes warm; home adaptations; hearing or other sensory equipment; manual or electric mobility aids; and higher food bills to allow them to meet specific dietary requirements.
 

Low pay coupled with low rights

New analysis from the TUC also shows that disabled workers are significantly more likely to be employed on zero-hours contracts than non-disabled workers (4.3% compared to 3.3%).

The TUC says these contracts hand the employer total control over workers’ hours and earning power, meaning workers never know how much they will earn each week, and their income is subject to the whims of managers.

The union body argues that this makes it hard for workers to plan their lives, look after their children and get to medical appointments.

And it makes it harder for workers to challenge unacceptable behaviour by bosses because of concerns about whether they will be penalised by not being allocated hours in the future.

The government’s Employment Rights Bill is set to ban zero hours contracts – a welcome measure that will improve the lives of many disabled workers.
 

Mandatory pay gap reporting and action plans

The government has also committed to introducing mandatory disability pay gap reporting for employers – a measure already in place for reporting on gender pay gaps.

Reporting, coupled with mandatory action plans to address any identified gaps, could improve the lives of disabled workers in England, Scotland and Wales.

The TUC is urging the government to press on with delivering its plans to introduce mandatory pay gap reporting.

This needs to sit alongside wider measures including reform of the Access to Work scheme, so that people get the support they need to get into work, and requirements on employers to deliver reasonable adjustments rapidly.

In addition, the recent Mayfield review recognised that more needs to be done to boost the number of disabled people in work and set out some key steps in the right direction.
 

TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak said:

“Everyone who works for a living deserves to earn a decent living. But disabled workers are still waiting for pay parity and fair treatment at work.
“Urgent action is now needed to improve the quality of work and pay for disabled people.
“The government’s commitment to delivering mandatory pay gap reporting and banning exploitative zero-hours contracts are among some of the measures that will make a real difference in disabled people’s working lives.
“It’s important we now see those plans realised as soon as possible.
“We need an economy that allows disabled people to thrive – not one that traps them in poverty.”

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Boost to employment of disabled people needed

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