Workers with disabilities effectively go 57 days a year without pay due to a 15.5 per cent gap with their non-disabled counterparts, according to a new report.
A report published by the Trade Union Congress (TUC) on Monday has found that disabled workers earn on average £1.65 less an hour than those without disabilities – that is £3,003 less per year, based on a 35 hour week.
The TUC said this is comparable to working without pay for last eight weeks of the year, beginning today (4 November).
The union branded November 4 as Disability Pay Gap Day, and has launched a petition calling on the government to force employers to publicly report on their disability pay gaps, in the same way that they report gender pay gaps.
“Everybody deserves a fair chance to get a job with decent pay,” said general secretary Frances O’Grady. “Being disabled should not exclude you from choosing to work. And it should not mean you’re put on a lower wage.”
He added: “The next government must show they care about disabled people in Britain today. A good start would be a new law to make employers publish their disability pay gap and a plan of action to address it.”
The union calculated the pay gap by analysing Labour Force Survey data for 12 months to July 2019.
It found that the pay gap has improved by 0.8 per cent since it was last calculated in May this year. At this rate, however, it estimates it will take another 37 years for the gap to close fully.
Earlier this year, the government said it would consider mandatory pay gap reports for both ethnicity and disability, but no announcements have yet been made.
