Disability Pay Gap Widens
The Office for National Statistics has released new data in April 2022 which shows that the UK’s disability pay gap widened slightly to 13.8 per cent in 2021. The new figures indicate that on average, disabled employees earn just short of £2 per hour less than non-disabled colleagues, earning on average £12.10 per hour.
Among other findings, summarised here, the analysis found that “disabled employees with autism as their main impairment” had a wider pay gap in 2021 than “disabled people with other types of main impairment”. The findings indicated those with autism as a long-lasting health condition had a median pay 33.5% less than non-disabled employees without a long-lasting health condition; the highest pay gap out of all the groups.
Caroline Casey, disability activist and founder of the Valuable 500, is quoted saying disabled employees were “consistently overlooked and underserved” and said that figures added to a list of discrimination that includes “disproportionate redundancy rates [and] higher levels of long-term unemployment”.
Employers would do well to consider these findings and implications and ensure that they are not failing any disabled employees nor leaving themselves open to claims.
Posted on 05/05/2022 by Ortolan
