Pay gap creating 'massive stumbling block' for disabled workers in Cambridgeshire
The manager of an adult education centre thinks local firms will be hit
The manager of a Cambridgeshire education centre for adults with learning and physical disabilities believes the pay gap between disabled and abled people is causing less motivation to seek work.
Figures from the Trade Union Congress (TUC) found in the East of England, disabled workers were earning £2.30 less than their able-bodied colleagues.
This, according to the TUC research, ranks the third highest pay gap in the country behind the south-east of England (£2.78 an hour) and Wales (£2.53 an hour).
Kris Harrold manages the Fenland Area Community Enterprise Trust in March, which has more than 120 students:
"I think a lot of it comes down to fear of the unknown (for businesses when employing someone with a disability)," he said.
"The things people with learning disabilities have to overcome just to get as far as an interview is a massive stumbling block.
"To find out that the pay gap is significant, it's a very off-putting thing for my students to begin that journey (into work)."
In the research, TUC found that non-disabled workers earn more than a sixth more than disabled people.
The TUC said from their study, the biggest pay gap is in financial and industrial services, which came to around £5.60 an hour.
"It's hard to keep my students motivated"
Kris believes smaller firms will feel the impact of the pay gap more so than other companies.
"It's hard to keep my students motivated; we've got students who are doing an employability course and these people are putting CVs out, but very few of them are getting a call back for an interview, let alone any further," Kris said.
"I think where it will hit hardest is the small, independently-owned businesses who can't afford the time or what they see is a risk because that one person might equate to one fifth of their workforce.
"If you've got a multinational company, that makes it a lot easier."
Government data show that nearly 5 million disabled people are employed in the UK- an increase of 2 million on 2013.