Agenda item

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Corporate Resources which provided an update on the Council’s overall position on sickness absence, as at the end of September 2023 (Quarter 2, 2023/24). A copy of the report, marked ‘Agenda Item 9‘, is filed with these minutes.

Arising from discussion, the following points were raised:

      i.         Concern was raised that the Council’s total number of Full Time Equivalent (FTE) days lost was at 9.80, which was above the target of 7.5. Members were assured that a communication campaign had been launched in November 2023 which was focussed on a call to action for managers on attendance management and wellbeing. The Director agreed to provide Members with a link to the Managers’ Digest special which included a video communication. It was hoped that the campaign would reduce sickness absence across the organisation.

     ii.         A survey on sickness absence, conducted by the Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development (CIPD), which engaged with around 1000 organisations, had found that for all sectors, the pre-Covid average FTE days lost was 5.8, and that this had risen to 7.8 post-Covid. The report was detailed, with a breakdown of reasons, similar to the Council’s reporting style, and concluded that sickness absence had risen across all sectors despite preventative and wellbeing strategies.

    iii.         It was reported that 42.5% of absences in Children and Family Services sat within the Stress/Depression/Mental health category. The Director explained that the Department continued to face challenges with demand, recruitment and retention, and increasing complexity within caseloads. The pressures on frontline services such as Social Work, continued to be high. However, the Department was well supported by its management team and specific support had been put into place by the Health, Safety and Wellbeing team to develop an action plan to further support individuals who had indicated work related stress. Members noted that there was a national piece of work to review areas such as Social Care, which it was anticipated would reduce the pressure on services and individuals.

   iv.         The main reason for sickness absence in Environment and Transport had traditionally been Musculoskeletal. However, Stress/Depression/ Mental Health had since risen to become the main reason for absence. An HR Business Partner was working with the Department on identifying the causes of Stress/Depression/Mental Health and implementing targeted work which would assist managers to support individuals. This would replicate similar work which was being done in Children and Family Services. The Transformation Unit was working with a particular service in Environment and Transport, which had reported a large number of absences, on delivering a service improvement programme.

     v.         Members were pleased with information which presented a comparison of absence reasons across all of the Council’s departments. It was suggested that a long-term trend analysis of the data would be useful to track changes across all departments over time. The Director agreed to provide this analysis in the next Attendance Management report.

   vi.         The Council had procedures in place to ensure compliance with the Attendance Management Policy. HR Business Partners presented monthly reports to Departmental Management Teams to discuss absence performance and worked with managers directly. Training was also offered to managers on supporting individuals. There were absence triggers within the performance management process which managers were asked to follow. Long-term cases were followed up by HR colleagues, with the involvement of Trade Unions and Occupational Health, where necessary. Work had also been conducted to reinforce the quality of recruitment, to ensure that only individuals best suited to roles would be recruited.

RESOLVED:

a)    That the update provided on the Council’s overall position on sickness absence, as at the end of September 2023 (Quarter 2, 2023/24), be noted.

b)    That the Director be requested to provide Members of the Employment Committee with a link to the Managers’ Digest special on Attendance Management.

c)    That The Director of Corporate Resources be requested to include a long-trend analysis showing direct comparison of reasons for absence broken down by department within the next Attendance Management report.