Abstract/Summary

People with disabilities (PWD) have been defined as the world’s largest minority group. This societal group continues to face significant barriers to labor market entry and social inclusion. The associated costs to supporting non-working PWDs can be high and long term. Yet, their potential as motivation, contribution and impact to human capital, adaptability, firm productivity and the innovative capacity of business entities is valuable and underutilised. PWD employment is a pressing ‘advanced market’ issue with strong implications on the nature of equitable opportunities, social mobility and diversity in the workplace. A better level of responsiveness by firms is needed to endorse enabling conditions towards broader social sustainability and as impact on PWDs quality of life. This study attempts to assess the quality of corporate reporting disclosure on disability issues by U.K. firms, as a stepping stone for mainstreaming integration of PWDs into labor markets under the scope of corporate social accountability. The information published in 274 sustainability reports highlights trends pertaining to disability employment. We benchmark U.K. sustainability reports against PWD-adapted indicators of the Global Reporting Initiative guidelines. Findings suggest that U.K. corporate disclosures on PWD employment are lacking in key respects, leaving much to be desired, and with plenty of room for improvement in order to clearly set out their commitment in favor of PWD employment. Drawing on these findings, implications for PWD employee policy and practice are outlined.