Time to introduce mandatory disability pay gap reporting, says TUC
New Equality and Human Rights Commission report reveals disabled people continue to be at high risk of poverty.
Commenting on the EHRC report to the UN which revealed disabled people continue to be at disproportionately high risk of poverty and low income, Paul Nowak, TUC general secretary said:
“We all deserve a decent job with decent pay. But we know more than three million disabled workers earn less than £15 an hour. They are also more likely to be on zero-hours contracts and are twice as likely as non-disabled workers to be unemployed. That’s just not good enough.
“Disabled workers shouldn’t be employed on a lower wage or on worse terms and conditions – or excluded from the jobs market altogether. It’s time to introduce mandatory disability pay gap reporting to shine a light on inequality at work.
“We know a lack of reasonable adjustments also prevents people from progressing at work, so we need to ensure disabled people get the adjustments they need to stay in their jobs – without having to wait months for them to be considered.
“And let’s put an end to low-pay Britain and get to a £15 per hour minimum wage as soon as possible. Without these changes, millions of disabled workers will continue to be consigned to years of lower pay and in-work poverty.”
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Full TUC press release