The disability pay gap

ended 25. April 2022

Tomorrow morning at 09:30, the Office for National Statistics is publishing a report entitled, ‘Disability pay gaps, UK: 2021’. It will provide detailed earnings statistics for disabled and non-disabled people in the UK. Few Qs:

  • Is there a disability pay gap in the UK, in your experience?
  • If yes, what can/should be done to eradicate it?
  • Should businesses be doing more to actively hire disabled people?

Any other thoughts on this, jot them down. No need for an essay. Just a paragraph or two will do.

3 responses from the Newspage community

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Gillian Jones-Williams
Managing Director at Emerge Development Consultancy
"The problem with the Disability Pay Gap is that it still is looking predominantly at registered disabilities and people tend to perceive this as 'people in wheelchairs'. Disability is so much wider than that, and includes Mental Health issues and hidden disabilities. But often, as with so many diversities and protected characteristics, the disability is all the person hiring sees and this can lead to perceiving the candidate will be grateful for the job offer and will accept whatever package is offered. We must avoid tokenism, look at people's strengths, improve inclusive recruiting practices and regularly benchmark wages."
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Jill Cotton
Career Trends Expert at Glassdoor
"The disability pay gap is a sign of missed opportunity. The UK is in the midst of an acute imbalance between labour supply and demand. Employers who think creatively can unlock new talent pools by seeking out overlooked workers such as those with disabilities or health conditions. Put simply, more needs to be done. Glassdoor research found a third (32%) of UK workers believe the disability pay gap has become worse during the pandemic. Furthermore, nearly 1 in 2 (45%) feel their company could be doing more to close this gap. Workplace transparency is proven to breed long-term success and levels the playing field for under-represented groups, such as disabled workers."
Premium
Malcolm Baker
Breeder at Halo Dart Frogs
"Unfortunately, and I say this as someone who is in a wheelchair, there is still lots of discrimination in the UK employment sector when it comes to disabled people. One favourite line businesses use to not employ disabled people is "other candidates were more suitable for the position", meaning a wheelchair user cannot possibly do a job like selling cars. If a disabled person is hired, it's normally on a one to three month temporary contract as a trial period with the 'opportunity' to go full time. But generally, because of the needs of disabled employees obviously being greater than that of their more able-bodied colleagues, businesses will often stick with people who won't require them to make physical adaptions to the workplace. If you're lucky enough to get employed, then comes the holding back of pay rises because the disabled person probably had two incidences of illness and absence. It feels like no one in government gives a second thought to disabled people. Just look at the Personal Independence Payment and how thousands of people are denied things they are entitled to."