Progress on the disability pay gap has flatlined over last decade

The government is set to consult on legislation that will make disability pay gap reporting mandatory

There has been no notable change in the pay gap between disabled and non-disabled employees since 2014, according to data from the Office for National Statistics, published on 17 October.

In 2023 the pay gap between disabled and non-disabled employees was 12.7%, with a median hourly pay of £15.69 for non-disabled employees and £13.69 for disabled employees. In 2014 the pay gap was 11.7%.

Men experienced a wider disability pay gap (15.5%) than women (9.6%) in 2023. People with autism faced the widest pay gap compared with other disabilities, at 27.9%; epilepsy (26.9%) and severe or specific learning disabilities (20.3%) were the second and third most impacted.

The lack of progress in closing the disability pay gap could be because there is no legal obligation to report on it, according to Liz Stevens, employment lawyer at Birketts.

Speaking to HR magazine, she said: “Closing the disability pay gap is proving to be stubbornly difficult, not least because unlike gender pay, employers are currently under no statutory obligation to either report on or take steps to address the gap.”

The government published its Employment Rights Bill on 10 October, which set out plans to consult on a Draft Equality (Race and Disability) Bill, which would make race and disability pay gap reporting mandatory for companies with over 250 employees.


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A lack of recognition for what counts as a disability could also be contributing to the pay gap, Susan Scott-Parker, CEO of Business Disability International, told HR magazine.

“While the disability pay gap as calculated remains as unacceptable as the gender gap – it signals a much wider set of challenges, not least that the data is so incomplete,” she said.

“To illustrate, while 4% of the NHS workforce say they have a disability – another 21% say they have a health condition. Yet these individuals with potentially disabling health conditions are missing from the data.”

“Employers are clearly not doing enough to close the gap,” diversity and disability consultant, Lesa Bradshaw, noted.

She told HR magazine employers perceived employees with disabilities as a 'low return on investment'. She encouraged employers to provide people with disabilities equal pay and opportunities to enable them to do their best work.

“If we perceive disabled persons as less capable, then we set low expectations of their value to contribute to our bottom line, and with that comes the ableist justification for lower pay,” she said.

“In reality,  disabled employees who are not enabled through workplace adjustments and an accessible, inclusive environment may not deliver their full value – and this reinforces these perceptions. 

“If we do not expect equal performance through providing equal opportunities to perform, and then hold employees accountable for delivering equal performance, then we’re not doing good business, nor realising a return on investment.”

Employers should join the government’s disability confident initiative to better support people with disabilities, Bradshaw advised.


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She continued: “Become disability confident. If you recognise the value that disabled people bring to our economy, if you build, recruit and nurture talent with a disability, if you translate the learnings from this valued talent into enhanced and accessible customer experience, then you recognise the return on investment, not only in profits, but in the brand energy, productivity and loyalty of your people.”

Stevens urged employers to consider their career opportunities for people with disabilities ahead of the government introducing the Equality (Race and Disability) Bill. 

She added: “Research into the causes of gender, ethnicity and disability pay gaps, published by the EHRC in 2017, identified that pay gaps largely result from barriers in obtaining and progressing at work. Not all of these barriers are within the control of employers.

“With the prospect of disability pay gap reporting on the horizon, as a result of the government’s imminent Equality (Race and Disability) Bill, employers should consider whether their recruitment and promotion policies adequately address the needs of disabled employees.

“Reasonable adjustments should be considered at all stages of the employment lifecycle to ensure that barriers to progression (and increased pay) are reduced for disabled staff.”