DISABLED workers effectively began working for free today until the end of the year, according to TUC analysis.

The 15.5 per cent disability pay gap means disabled workers earn £2.24 an hour less than non-disabled counterparts, according to the research.

For those working a 35-hour week, this means earning more than £4,000 less a year on average.

The gap, which was 17.2 per cent last year, is even wider for disabled women.

The unemployment rate among disabled people is now at the highest since before the pandemic, with disabled workers also significantly more likely to be employed on zero-hours contracts than non-disabled workers.

TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said that disabled workers “are still waiting for pay parity and fair treatment at work. 

“Urgent action is now needed to improve the quality of work and pay for disabled people. 

“The government’s commitment to delivering mandatory pay gap reporting and banning exploitative zero-hours contracts are among some of the measures that will make a real difference in disabled people’s working lives.  

“It’s important we now see those plans realised as soon as possible.”

The ban on zero-hours contracts and pay gap reporting “needs to sit alongside wider measures including reform of the Access to Work scheme, so that people get the support they need to get into work, and requirements on employers to deliver reasonable adjustments rapidly,” the TUC added.

It said that last week’s Mayfield review on how to keep people in work “set out some key steps in the right direction” despite union fears that disabled people could face benefit cuts for not taking so-called “personal responsibility” to return to work.