LABOUR must produce “solid plans” for bosses to tackle disability discrimination, the TUC said today after official figures revealed that the pay gap has remained “stubbornly high” for 10 years.

Campaigners responsed to the “very disappointing” data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) by questioning the government’s approach to forcing disabled people into work.

The ONS analysis found that disabled workers are likely to earn on average £2 less an hour than their non-disabled counterparts and that the pay gap has “remained broadly stable” since 2014.

In 2023, disabled employees are estimated to have earned a median of £13.69 per hour, while their non-disabled counterparts are likely to have earned a median of £15.69 per hour, the statistics body said.

The ONS added that the minimum wage legislation was probably helping to narrow the disability pay gap in lower-paid occupations, with far narrower discrepancies seen in “caring, leisure and other service occupations” compared to senior roles in professional fields.

The government has expressed a “strong commitment” to ending pay discrimination by expanding the Equality (Race and Disparity) Bill to make it mandatory for large employers to report their ethnicity and disability pay gaps.

But Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall sparked outrage from disability groups this week by saying that job coaches could visit mental health patients in hospital to help them get back to work.

Today, Disabled People Against Cuts co-founder Linda Burnip said: “It is very disappointing to find that there has been no reduction in the disability pay gap.

“If the government are intent on forcing disabled people into work, perhaps they could address this urgently.”

TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said it was a “shameful indictment that over the last decade the pay gap has remained so stubbornly high.”

He added: “We all deserve to be paid fairly for the work we do. But disabled people continue to be discriminated against and valued less in our jobs market. 

“We welcome this government’s landmark commitment to introduce mandatory disability pay gap reporting, which will shine a light on inequality at work. We also need solid plans that outline what employers must do.”

Harriet Edwards of disability charity Sense said: “It’s infuriating that disabled people still earn significantly less than non-disabled people. This is fundamentally unfair and the persistent gap has got no better over the past decade.”