Why pay gap reporting could change things for the better for the disabled community
When the UK Government introduced mandatory gender pay gap reporting in 2017, many organisations questioned whether publishing statistics would make any real difference. Critics argued that reporting alone would not close pay gaps, create opportunities, or address the complex causes of inequality in the workplace.
Nearly a decade later, the evidence tells a different story.
Research suggests that mandatory gender pay gap reporting has led employers to examine their practices more closely, increase pay transparency and take action to reduce disparities. While reporting has not eliminated the gender pay gap, it has created measurable improvements and, perhaps most importantly, shone a light on inequalities that were previously hidden.
This is precisely why the Government's proposal to introduce disability pay gap reporting is so important and why here at SIC, as a DPO (Disabled Peoples Organisation) we are fully behind this initiative.
If it gets measured, it gets managed
For many disabled people, workplace inequality is not a new discovery. Disabled employees have long reported barriers to recruitment, progression, promotion, and pay. Yet despite widespread recognition of these challenges, disability-related inequalities often remain invisible within organisational data.
Unlike gender, where reporting requirements have forced employers to confront uncomfortable truths, many organisations simply do not know whether disabled employees are being paid less on average, are underrepresented in senior positions, or are leaving at higher rates than their non-disabled colleagues.
Disability pay gap reporting could change that. By requiring organisations to collect and publish data, employers would gain a clearer picture of how disabled people experience their workplace. Once that information becomes visible, it becomes much harder to ignore.
Transparency drives action
One of the most important lessons from gender pay gap reporting is that transparency changes behaviour.
Research found that employers subject to reporting requirements reduced their pay gaps more than similar organisations that were not required to report. Organisations reviewed recruitment practices, promotion pathways, flexible working arrangements, and leadership representation. Public reporting created accountability, encouraging employers to move beyond good intentions and towards measurable action.
Disability pay gap reporting has the potential to create the same effect.
When organisations publish disability pay gap data, questions naturally follow:
Why is the gap occurring?
Are disabled employees concentrated in lower-paid roles?
Are progression opportunities equally accessible?
Are workplace adjustments being provided effectively?
Are recruitment and promotion processes unintentionally excluding talent?
These are questions that many disabled employees have been asking for years. Reporting would require employers to ask them too.
Visibility matters
One of the greatest challenges facing disabled people in the workplace is invisibility.
Between 70% and 80% of disabilities are invisible. Many employees choose not to disclose their disability because they fear stigma, discrimination, or negative impacts on their career progression. As a result, organisations often underestimate both the number of disabled employees they employ and the barriers those employees face.
Mandatory reporting would encourage organisations to build trust, improve disclosure processes, and create environments where employees feel safe sharing information about their disability.
Better data leads to better understanding, and better understanding leads to better decision-making.
Without data, inequality can be dismissed as anecdotal. With data, it becomes impossible to deny.
Reporting alone isn’t enough
Of course, just reporting on the pay gap is not a silver bullet.
The experience of gender pay gap reporting shows that publishing statistics alone will not solve workplace inequality. Structural barriers, inaccessible workplaces, discrimination, lack of reasonable adjustments, and limited progression opportunities cannot be addressed through reporting alone.
However, reporting provides something essential: evidence.
It creates a baseline from which progress can be measured. It enables employees, employers, investors, policymakers and the public to understand where inequalities exist and whether organisations are taking meaningful steps to address them.
Most importantly, it creates accountability.
A step in the right direction to workplace equality
For disabled people, employment is about more than a monthly salary. Work provides independence, purpose, social connection, and financial security. Yet disabled people continue to face significant disadvantages in the labour market, including lower employment rates and reduced opportunities for progression.
Disability pay gap reporting will not solve these issues overnight. But neither did gender pay gap reporting solve gender inequality overnight.
What it can do is create transparency, drive conversations, encourage action, and make inequality visible.
The evidence from gender pay gap reporting demonstrates that when organisations are required to measure disparities, change follows. The changes may be gradual and sometimes imperfect, but they are real.
For the disabled community, disability pay gap reporting represents more than a new compliance requirement. It represents recognition that inequality should not remain hidden and that disabled people's experiences at work deserve the same level of scrutiny, accountability and action as any other protected group.
Because if we are serious about creating inclusive workplaces, we first need to understand where the barriers exist, and that begins with measuring them.
A note for businesses that are outside of pay gap reporting
Like gender pay gap reporting, disability pay gap reporting is only a requirement for businesses over 250 employees. However, when larger organisations start thinking more about their inclusion, this can impact their entire supply chain including the type of organisations they work with, contractors they employ, and how they tender for large pieces of work. Being ahead of the game, and knowing where you sit can become a huge selling point.
In our experience, SMEs can create some of the most inclusive environments and tend to be great at implementing reasonable adjustments effectively - so this could be a great chance to show this off.
Want to ensure that you're getting disability inclusion right? Check out our training and consulting offerings, we'd love to work with you.
