The pay gap
TUC analysis shows that non-disabled workers earn 17.2% more than disabled workers (up from 14.6% in 2023). This means that, on average, disabled workers will work 54 days without pay this year.
The pay gap for disabled workers currently stands at £2.35 an hour – or £4,300 per year for someone working a 35-hour week.
Disabled women face an even bigger pay penalty. Non-disabled men are paid on average 31% more than disabled women.
The pay gap is higher than it was a decade ago, when it was 13.2%. Research shows the disability pay gap persists for disabled workers throughout their careers.
TUC figures take into account that regular outgoings are often higher for disabled people, such as higher gas and electricity bills; home adaptations; hearing or other sensory equipment; powering manual or electric mobility aids; and higher food bills to support their conditions.
This means that on average, disabled people have to pay out an additional £1,010 a month to secure the same standard of living as a non-disabled person.
Labour taking action
Everybody deserves a job with decent pay. Being disabled should not mean you’re on a lower wage – or that you’re excluded from opportunities at work.
The Labour Government have committed to introducing mandatory disability pay gap reporting – a measure that is already in play for gender pay gaps.
This is a welcome first step towards closing the pay gap for disabled workers. Reporting, coupled with action plans to address any identified gaps, could improve the lives of disabled workers.
Usdaw supports the call to extend pay gap reporting and will be following the progress of proposals closely.
Employers do not have to wait for mandatory disability pay gap reporting to become the law. Proactively taking steps to analyse data from disabled workers and looking closely at disabled employees experiences of processes such as recruitment and promotion at work can help to identify issues and take action to improve the experiences and representation for disabled employees at work.
Disabled workers are not only more likely to be in low paid work, they are also a third more likely to be on a zero-hours contract than non-disabled workers, and disabled women from black and ethnic minorities are three times more likely to be in precarious work than non-disabled white men.
The Government’s Employment Rights Bill is set to significantly limit the use of zero hours contracts – another welcome measure that will improve the lives of many Disabled workers.
Reasonable adjustments in the workplace
In addition to discrimination in the labour market and the barriers that negative attitudes and stereotypes can put in the way of disabled workers ‘getting on’ in paid work, the failure of employers to make reasonable adjustments is a big factor that contributes to the pay gap.
Measures such as reasonable adjustment passports are just one way that employers can support disabled colleagues to thrive in the workplace. They are a live record of reasonable adjustments agreed between a worker and their manager to support them at work because of their health condition, impairment or disability. Adjustment passports help to stop disabled workers from having to repeatedly explain and re-negotiate adjustments that have been agreed, for example when their line manager changes.