NEARLY a third of disabled workers have been treated unfairly at work during the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a TUC poll published today.

The survey of more than 2,000 people with disabilities or health conditions reveals that the substantial workplace barriers that they faced before the pandemic have increased.

Some 30 per cent said that they had been treated worse than non-disabled colleagues, while more than one in five who should have been shielding worked outside their home most of the time – despite furlough money being available to employers to allow disabled workers to stay at home.

Eight per cent said they had been subjected to forms of bullying or harassment, while 12 per cent believed that their disability had affected their chances of promotion.

The TUC called on ministers to strengthen and enforce disabled workers’ right to reasonable workplace adjustments – only 55 per cent of those surveyed had their requests for adjustments met in full and one in six received none at all.

The union confederation also demanded that employers be required to declare their disability pay gap and show what action they are taking to address it.

With recent government figures revealing that disabled workers are 62 per cent more likely to be made redundant, the TUC demanded action to stop disabled people being pushed back out of the labour market.

General secretary Frances O’Grady said: “Before the pandemic, disabled workers were already up against huge barriers getting into and staying in work. Covid-19 has made it even worse.

“Employers are failing disabled workers. Many disabled and shielding workers felt unsafe at work during the pandemic. And too many disabled workers told us their boss is breaking the law by not giving them the adjustments they need.

“We saw with the last financial crisis that disabled people are all too often first in line for redundancy. As we recover from the pandemic, we can’t afford to reverse the vital progress that disabled people have made – in the workplace and in wider society.”

A Disabled People Against Cuts spokesperson said: “The results of this TUC survey are shocking, showing disabled workers being exploited and discriminated against in many cases.

“The government’s Disability Strategy is sadly unlikely to lead to any real improvements for disabled workers unless it has some real teeth which disabled employees would feel safe using against their employers.”