Tag: disabled workers

STUC Disabled Workers’ Conference 2024: Usdaw seeks a social model understanding and action to end bullying and harassment

Retail trade union Usdaw has a delegation of members, reps and officials attending the Scottish Trade Union Congress (STUC) Disabled Workers’ Conference in Glasgow on 23 and 24 November.

Usdaw is calling for delegates to adopt a social model understanding of disability and to support action to end bullying and harassment of disabled people.

Paddy Lillis – Usdaw general secretary says: “We are deeply concerned that large numbers of disabled workers are exposed to bullying and harassment at work. Young workers, women, LGBT+ and Black disabled workers are disproportionately impacted because of their unique combination of protected characteristics.

“While bullying and harassment takes many forms and affects workers differently, it can have a profoundly damaging impact on mental and physical health, on an individual’s personal and working life and on workplace cultures. Stereotypes about disabled people fuel discrimination and less favourable treatment.

“They prevent disabled people getting into work, remaining in work and getting on in work. They also have broader implications and can limit how disabled workers behave in the workplace as they seek to avoid situations and people that might put them at further risk.

“Harassment and bullying at work are part of a larger pattern of discrimination experienced by disabled people. Disabled workers, disability organisations and trade unions need to be consulted about the design and implementation of effective and preventative workplace interventions.”

Usdaw is asking the STUC to lobby the Scottish and Westminster governments to:

  • Take positive action to change the way disabled people are viewed, valued and included in society.
  • Consult on extending the new preventative duty to sexual harassment to other forms of harassment including disability harassment.
  • Reinstate standalone protection from third-party harassment and enact Clause 14 of the Equality Act 2010 providing protection against discrimination that occurs for reasons related to a combination of protected characteristics.

Paddy Lillis continued: “The social model of disability is fundamental to eliminating discrimination and achieving equality and inclusion for disabled people. However, the medical model continues to dominate the law and the way in which employers understand and respond to disabled workers.

“This maintains and condones continued exclusion and inequality in the workplace. In Scotland, although the disability employment gap has reduced, disabled people still have a significantly lower employment rate than non-disabled people.

“Employers’ continued focus on ‘adjusting’ the worker – rarely the workplace – and removing barriers reinforces the widespread stereotype of disabled people as creating a ‘burden on business’.

“This shifts the onus onto the disabled worker to repeatedly demonstrate what they can’t do, rather than on employers to make workplaces accessible. Disabled workers are increasingly seeing adjustments removed, including adjustments to absence levels and performance targets, leading to disciplinary action and dismissal.

“Where this happens, the failure of employers to adopt a social model understanding ‘individualises’ disabled workers’ responses to discrimination and pushes them into seeking justice via internal grievance and legal procedures where the odds are stacked against them.”

Usdaw is asking the STUC, in consultation with the Disabled Workers’ Committee, to encourage unions to:

  • Make collective bargaining on disability equality a priority, including ensuring reps and officials are trained on the social model.
  • Regularly review employer policies, practices and publications, ensuring where possible that they are free of medical model approaches to disability.
  • Hold employers to account for failures in their duty to make reasonable adjustments.

TUC slams “zero progress” on disability pay gap in last decade

New analysis shows pay gap between non-disabled and disabled workers is now 14.6% – higher than it was a decade ago

  • Disabled women face even bigger pay penalty of 30% – £3.73 an hour 
  • TUC says Labour’s New Deal for Working People would be a “game changer” for disabled workers, introducing mandatory disability pay gap reporting and a day one right to flexible work 

New analysis published by the TUC yesterday shows that non-disabled workers earn around a sixth (14.6%) more than disabled workers 

The analysis reveals that the pay gap for disabled workers across the board is £1.90 an hour, or £66.50 per week – over what the average household spends on their weekly food shop (£62.20). 

That makes for a pay difference of £3,460 a year for someone working a 35-hour week – and means that disabled people effectively work for free for the last 47 days of the year and stop getting paid today, on the day the TUC has branded Disability Pay Gap Day.  

“Zero progress” on disability pay gap 

The pay gap has fallen since last year, when the overall pay gap was £2.05 (17.2%) an hour. 

The new analysis shows that the disability pay gap is now higher than it was a decade ago (13.2% in 2013/14) when the first comparable pay data was recorded. 

And the gap is only slightly lower than when the TUC first launched Disability Pay Gap Day using 2016/17 data (when it was 15.0%). 

Disability pay gap by gender and age 

The new TUC analysis reveals that disabled women face the biggest pay gap. Non-disabled men are paid on average 30% (£3.73 an hour, £130.55 a week, or £6,780 a year) more than disabled women. 

The research also shows that the disability pay gap persists for workers for most of their careers. At age 25 the pay gap is £1.73 an hour hitting a high of £3.18 an hour, or £111.30 a week, for disabled workers aged 40 to 44. 

National, regional and industrial disability pay gaps 

The analysis looked at pay data from across the country and found disability pay gaps in every region and nation of the UK. 

The highest pay gaps are in Wales (21.6% or £2.53 an hour), followed by the South East (19.8% or £2.78 an hour) and the East of England (17.7% or £2.30 an hour). 

The research found that disability pay gaps also vary by industry. The biggest pay gap is in financial and industrial services, where the pay gap stands at a huge 33.2% (£5.60 an hour). 

Unemployment 

Not only are disabled workers paid less than non-disabled workers, they are also more likely to be excluded from the job market. 

Disabled workers are twice as likely as non-disabled workers to be unemployed (6.7% compared to 3.3%).  

And the analysis shows disabled BME workers face a much tougher labour market – one in 10 (10.4%) BME disabled workers are unemployed compared to nearly one in 40 (2.6%) white non-disabled workers. 

Zero-hours contracts 

The analysis shows that disabled workers are more likely than non-disabled workers to be on zero-hours contracts (4.5% to 3.4%). 

And disabled BME women are nearly three times as likely as non-disabled white men (6.0% to 2.2%) to be on these insecure contracts. 

The TUC says zero-hours contracts hand the employer total control over workers’ hours and earning power, meaning workers never know how much they will earn each week, and their income is subject to the whims of managers.  

The union body argues that this makes it hard for workers to plan their lives, look after their children and get to medical appointments. 

And it makes it harder for workers to challenge unacceptable behaviour by bosses because of concerns about whether they will be penalised by not being allocated hours in future. 

New Deal for Working People 

The TUC is calling for government action to end the discrimination disabled workers’ face in the jobs market. 

The union body says Labour’s New Deal for Working People would be a “game changer” for workers’ rights. 

Labour has pledged to deliver new rights for working people in an employment bill in its first 100 days. 

Labour’s new deal would: 

  • Introduce disability and ethnicity pay gap reporting. 
  • Strengthen flexible working rights by introducing a day one right to work flexibly. 
  • Ban zero-hours contracts to help end the scourge of insecure work. 
  • Give all workers day one rights on the job. Labour will scrap qualifying time for basic rights, such as unfair dismissal, sick pay, and parental leave.  
  • Ensure all workers get reasonable notice of any change in shifts or working time, with compensation that is proportionate to the notice given for any shifts cancelled or curtailed. 
  • Beef up enforcement by making sure the labour market enforcement bodies have the powers they need to undertake targeted and proactive enforcement work and bring civil proceedings upholding employment rights. 

TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak said: “We all deserve to be paid fairly for the work we do. But disabled people continue to be valued less in our jobs market. 

“It’s shameful there has been zero progress on the disability pay gap in the last decade. Being disabled shouldn’t mean you are given a lower wage – or left out of the jobs market altogether. 

“Too many disabled people are held back at work, not getting the reasonable adjustments they need to do their jobs. And we need to strengthen the benefits system for those who are unable to work or are out of work, so they are not left in poverty. 

“It’s time for a step change. Labour’s New Deal for Working People would be an absolute game changer for disabled workers. It would introduce mandatory disability pay gap reporting to shine a light on inequality at work. 

“Without this legislation, millions of disabled workers will be consigned to many more years of lower pay and in-work poverty.” 

Disabled workers: #AskDontAssume

The UK Government has launched a new disability awareness campaign, #AskDontAssume (writes TUC’s EMMA KOSMIN). Disabled people have had to point out that the campaign is offensive and harmful. But the government are not listening to disabled people. 

The campaign encourages the public to ask disabled people questions about their lives. This can often be intrusive and upsetting.  

The irony is that this is the same government that have done so much to stigmatize disabled people. They have cut services to the bone, and used disabled people as a scapegoat. And they have taken no meaningful action to address systematic barriers.  

In fact, disabled workers are on the sharp end of the pay and cost of living crisis created by the government.  

Seven in ten (69%) disabled workers now earn less than £15 an hour. That’s compared to half (50%) of non-disabled workers.  

And disabled people are much more likely to be on zero hours contracts. 

We need action from the government, not a fluffy PR campaign that will lead to even more harm.

Here are five things that the government should do, that would actually be helpful: 

1. Raise the minimum wage to £15 an hour as soon as possible, to tackle the low pay that impacts disabled workers. 

2. Stamp out insecure work by banning zero hours contracts and ending fire and rehire. 

3. Make employers put reasonable adjustments in place for disabled workers. And bring in fines for employers that don’t. 

4. Bring in disability pay gap reporting. Employers should have to publish how much they pay disabled workers, compared to non-disabled workers. 

5. Make flexible working the norm for everyone.  

Disabled workers need a pay rise and better terms and conditions at work – not another meaningless PR exercise. 

TUC: It’s time to end the pay disparity that penalises disabled workers

Disabled people are more at risk of having to make the difficult decision between heating and eating

Before the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic disabled workers faced huge barriers getting into and staying in work (writes TUC General Secretary PAUL NOWAK).

The pandemic, and the huge changes it has caused to our everyday lives, has exacerbated the barriers disabled people face.

Not only have disabled people been disproportionately affected in terms of loss of life, with six in 10 Covid-19 related deaths being disabled people, but pre-existing workplace barriers have been accentuated by the pandemic.

And now, new data published by the TUC for our disabled workers conference shows disabled workers are much more likely to earn less than non-disabled workers.

That’s not right.

Having an impairment should never mean you get paid less or that you’re on worse terms and conditions. However, for too many disabled workers in this country, it is an all too true reality.

With spiralling inflation and eye watering bills, workers are having their income stretched in every direction. But for disabled people, the situation is even more challenging.

Let’s not forget – disabled workers face even higher living costs than non-disabled workers. So as the cost-of-living crisis continues to play havoc with everyone’s lives, we know that these workers are feeling the pinch even more.

But the challenges don’t end there.

Disabled workers also encounter more barriers in the workplace than non-disabled colleagues – with many worried that if they ask their employer for the reasonable adjustments they need to do their job, they’ll be refused outright.

New TUC analysis reveals disabled workers are much more likely to be paid less than their non-disabled colleagues – with those in the North of England and Wales even more likely to be paid less.

And we know that disabled people are more at risk of having to make the difficult decision between heating and eating.

With this cost-of-living crisis not looking like it’s going to end any time soon, things are only going to get worse. We need action now.

With the government too focused on its own political survival, ministers have done nothing to put the mind of disabled workers at ease.

Our call is clear: It’s time to end the pay disparity that penalises disabled workers and it’s time disabled workers get the support they need in the workplace.

At the TUC’s disabled workers conference, we heard from delegates about how the cost-of-living crisis is hitting disabled workers across the country. And we heard how we can build workplaces that work for everyone.

That means stamping out insecure work by banning zero-hour contracts, increasing the minimum wage and outlawing fire and rehire.

That means giving disabled workers fair access to request reasonable adjustments, and fining those employers who discriminate against workers because of any impairment. 

And that means forcing employers to come with an action plan to report their disability pay and employment gaps.

This is a plan which will deliver and transform the lives of so many disabled workers across the country.

Ministers must step up and act now.

Disabled workers ‘hit hardest’ by Covid-19

  • New poll finds disabled workers have been “hit hardest” in the wallet by Covid-19 and have faced financial hardship, increased debt and have been forced to use food banks 
  • Accompanying new TUC analysis finds non-disabled workers are now paid 16.5 per cent more a year than non-disabled workers 
  • And disability charity Leonard Cheshire highlights discrimination against disabled workers, with 1 in 5 employers less likely to employ disabled people 

Two in five (40 per cent) disabled workers have been pushed into financial hardship over the last year, according to new TUC polling published today (Tuesday). 

The polling – carried out for the union body by BritainThinks – shows how disabled workers’ living standards have been “hit hardest” by Covid-19. 

And leading disability charity Leonard Cheshire is today adding its voice to TUC’s, publishing new research which shows the continuing stigma against disabled workers, and calling for action to break down barriers to employment for disabled people. 

Financial hardship 

Two in five (40 per cent) disabled workers told the TUC that they’ve faced financial difficulty during the pandemic compared to around one in four (27 per cent) non-disabled workers. 

They said that they had experienced: 

  • Increasing debt: More than one in six (16 per cent) of disabled workers said their level of debt have increased compared to around one in 10 (11 per cent) non-disabled workers. 
  • Cutting back on spending: Around three in 10 (28 per cent) disabled workers had been forced to cut back on spending, compared to around two in 10 (18 per cent) non-disabled workers. 
  • Using food banks: Disabled workers (six per cent) were twice as likely to have had to visit a food bank than non-disabled workers (three per cent). 

Disabled workers (22 per cent) were also twice as likely to say they were concerned about losing their jobs than non-disabled workers (11 per cent). 

‘Disability pay gap day’ 

The poll findings are published alongside new TUC analysis which shows that non-disabled employees earn on average £1.90 an hour (16.5 per cent) more than disabled employees – or £3,458 more a year (based on a 35-hour week).  

That means disabled workers effectively stop getting paid today, and work for free for the last 52 days of the year. The TUC has branded today ‘disability pay gap day’. 

And disabled women face an even bigger pay gap. Non-disabled men are paid on average 32 per cent (£3.50 an hour, or around £6,370 a year) more than disabled women. 

The £3,458 pay gap is the equivalent of: 

  • More than a year (13 months) of the average household expenditure on food and non-alcoholic drinks (£63.70 per week) or 
  • Nearly a year (10 months) of the average expenditure on housing, fuel and power (£83.00 per week) or 
  • Nearly a year (10 months) of what the average household spends on transport (£81.60 per week). 

Leonard Cheshire research 

Leading global disability charity Leonard Cheshire is releasing new research today which reveals that disabled workers say they have been left behind by the Covid-19 recovery. 

The Leonard Cheshire study finds that the vast majority (89 per cent) of disabled young people aged 18-24 years old said that their work had been affected by the pandemic, and that one in five employers (19 per cent) would be less likely to employ a disabled person than a non-disabled person. 

The TUC and Leonard Cheshire are urging the government to act now to close the disability employment and pay gap and ensure disabled people gain and retain quality employment.  

TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said: “Disabled workers have been hit hardest by Covid-19. Many have been pushed into financial hardship and left without a safety net. 

“With a cost-of-living crisis looming we need urgent action from ministers.  

“As we saw with the last financial crisis disabled people are all too often first in line for redundancy, and those who keep hold of their jobs face a yawning pay gap. 

“Disabled people deserve much better. We need mandatory disability pay gap reporting to shine a light on poor workplace practices that fuel inequality at work. 

“Without this, millions of disabled workers will be consigned to years of lower pay and in-work poverty.” 

Director of Policy at Leonard Cheshire Gemma Hope said: “Disabled people have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic and employment support is vital to ensure they’re not further left behind. 

“Our research also suggests stubborn levels of stigma amongst employers and that young disabled people remain adrift in the current job market. 

“We call on government to increase efforts to support disabled job seekers and recruiters to continue working with us in recognising the depth of talent available.” 

Government action needed 

The TUC is calling on the government to deliver: 

  • Mandatory disability pay gap reporting for all employers with more than 50 employees. This should be accompanied by a duty on bosses to produce targeted action plans identifying the steps they will take to address any gaps identified. 
  • Enforcement of reasonable adjustments: The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) should get specific funding to enforce disabled workers’ rights to reasonable adjustments. 
  • A stronger legal framework for adjustments: The EHRC must update their statutory code of practice to include more examples of reasonable adjustments, to help disabled workers get the adjustments they need quickly and effectively. This will help lawyers, advisers, union reps and human resources departments apply the law and understand its technical detail.