Agenda item

An update report from the Human Resources Operations Manager (15 mins)

The HR Operations Manager introduced the report which had been circulated with the agenda. The report provided an overview of the council’s approach to managing and monitoring sickness absence. It described the significant work carried out by HR to improve sickness reporting and outlined the role of the council's Sickness Absence Management Policy and Procedures introduced in 2006.

This was due to be reviewed with the aim of reducing the trigger points. She also stressed the importance of supporting staff in what were currently quite stressful times with ever increasing pressure on resources.

The Council had a corporate target to reduce sickness absence to 8 days per full time equivalent employee for the financial year 2010/11. She advised that the absence rate outturn for the 12 month period to 31st of March 2011 was below target at 9.45 days, an increase over the previous year of 0.45 days.   However, if the depot sickness absence figures were taken out then the average for the remaining divisions would be 6.1 days. The report explained that that the ageing workforce and nature of the work of staff based at the depot was a factor and further work was being done to identify what support the council could offer to those employees.

Members made a number of comments/questions and the responses from the HR Operations Manager are set out:

• Para 2.9: A member questioned the use of the term “unsurprisingly’ in relation to sickness absence being lower in the private sector?
  • This was a well established industry statistic
• Para 2.10: why should the average cost of absence be higher in the public sector than the private sector?
  • Historically public sector employees have a more generous sickness pay scheme, set out in local government  national terms and condition of employment.. In the private sector, statutory sick pay is the norm and some employers do not pay for the first three days of sickness absence. In the public sector, with the exception of statutory services provided at the depot, there is no backfill when employees are off due to sickness. Managers spend a lot of their time managing absence and the shortfall.
  • The Cabinet Member Corporate Services highlighted that any changes in this area would require some difficult negotiations with trade unions.
• Para 2.11: Why is it not possible to estimate the cost of absence, even approximately?
  • It is possible to provide crude estimates but this does not take into account lost productivity and the impact of the remaining employees.
• Para 3.1: Should the target be more challenging and closer to the private sector average?
  • The absence policy is to be refreshed and as part of this work we will work with TU colleagues to discuss and agree lower trigger points and targets
• Para 3.8 : without further analysis being done is it an inherently unfair statement that an ageing workforce is the underlying cause of the high sickness absence?
  • There is evidence for this statement and her experience and that of the HR team was that the majority of staff at the depot going through the sickness absence process were over 50.
• Given that 44% of the depot’s operation’s workforce are over 50 years of age, is succession planning being looked at?
  • Yes
• Para 3.9: the table would be more informative if the average days expected were also listed
  • Noted
• Para 3.9: There does not appear to be an increase in stress, depression, anxiety disorders arising from increasing pressure on staff during financial crisis. Have officers considered that there may be a seasonal trend in this?
  • This is being monitored very closely. as all staff going through a period of major change. L&OD colleagues have devised training sessions to help employees through change.
• Para 3.14: can officers confirm that massage sessions to improve well-being of staff have not been at the expense of council tax payers?
  • No, staff pay for this service and there is no cost to the council.
• Line Managers must have prime responsibility for managing sickness absence in their teams.
  • Very much so but they currently rely on HR to supply the information. The implementation of GO and the shared platform will enable managers to have real time information relating to sickness and their employees readily available on their desktop.
• Can this committee receive absence information on a quarterly basis, highlighting trends rather than too much detail but with a financial assessment of days lost due to sickness?
  • Quarterly information was formerly reported to the Staff and Support Services Committee and this is now reported to the Joint Consultative Committee along with Health and Safety reports which are closely related.
  • The Cabinet Member Corporate Services questioned whether the full committee was the best way of reviewing the information. He agreed to circulate the previous 12 months quarterly reports and would be happy to arrange a session with interested members, himself and HR to discuss any issues arising and clarify the format of any report that scrutiny required. He also felt strongly that information on sickness must be reviewed alongside health and safety reviews and action plans.

The chair concluded that sickness absence was a concern and members hoped to see actions being taken which would reverse the trend in absenteeism.

Resolved that the committee will receive a summary report in six months time which will pick up on the topics raised at this meeting.