Staff with disabilities working for Nottingham City Council are paid the same or slightly better than those who are not disabled, figures published for the first time show.
Disabled employees make up 6% of the council’s workforce, with slightly higher representation in higher-paid posts. This accounts for the average pay gap among disabled middle earners being minus 5.8%, meaning they are paid just under £1.06 for every £1 earned by non-disabled middle earners.
Across the whole council, staff with disabilities earn an average of £1.02 for every £1 earned by non-disabled colleagues – a pay gap of minus 2%.
This follows a report showing that female staff earn on average what men working for the authority are paid.
Portfolio Holder for Neighbourhoods, Safety and Inclusion, Councillor Neghat Khan, said: “This report reflects our strong commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion. While this is encouraging, we are committed to doing more to ensure disability equality and are undertaking a programme of work to help staff and managers improve their own practice around inclusion and accessibility.”
The council’s Chief Executive, Mel Barrett, said: “Although this is a positive reflection on the council’s approach, we have committed to further improving our status as a disability confident employer, aiming to achieve leader status under the Disability Confident Scheme.
“We will also be continuing to assess and respond to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on employees with a disability in our workforce, particularly as we transition back into the workplace and adopt more hybrid ways of working. We want to ensure that we have an inclusive and supportive environment, where all staff can thrive and that employees get individualised support where needed.”
He added that the City Council is working towards becoming a sector leader in inclusive practice generally and as part of this, the council will also publish its ethnicity pay gap in the coming months.