Agenda item

The Service Director – Business Improvement, Human Resources and Communications submitted a report to provide the Committee with an update on the Council’s sickness absence and performance management for the financial year 2021 – 2022 and to provide a comparison to the financial year 2020 - 2021. 

Furthermore, the report also provided assurance to the Committee that the Council’s mitigating actions and improvements are either in place or being developed to support the health and wellbeing of its employees, reduce sickness absence levels and support effective performance management.

The key highlights of the report were noted as:

·            The Council’s performance target for 2021- 2022 was an average of no more than 7.5 days sickness absence per employee, per year.

·            In the financial year 2021-2022, the average total days lost per employee was 10.24 days.  This was an increase of 2.74 days lost per employee from 2020 – 2021 (7.77).  This figure included absences due to Covid-19, which, along with Mental Health were the two main reasons for absence in 2021- 2022.

·            The Council’s performance target for the completion of Performance and Development Reviews (PDR) for 2021-2022 was 95%.  As at the end of the 2021-2022 year, the completion rate was 84.7%, an increase of 2.2% compared to the previous year (82.5%). 

The report then went on to outline:

·            The ways in which the Council are managing sickness absence via the use of absence management dashboards.

·            The way in which managers can refer employees to the Occupational Health Unit for support if they are absent to due mental health reasons from day one of their absence rather than waiting for four weeks. 

·            The support available to employees’ wellbeing via the Employee Assistance Programme.

·            Details in relation to changing the culture of the organisation following people’s working practices and the impact of working from home during the pandemic.

·            The various health and wellbeing initiatives being implemented to support employees. 

·            The Council’s future plans to continue to identify and implement actions that support employee health and wellbeing. 

The following discussion ensued:

·            The Committee queried why sickness absence rates for public sector workers had been consistently higher than those for private-sector workers. 

·            In response, it was highlighted that sickness absence rates did vary across sectors and the public sector was generally higher, than the private sector.  The Council’s policy was around early intervention, especially in relation to mental health issues to help employees.  Prompt action was also being taken by Managers and HR Business Partners to address long-term sicknesses absences with absence management a priority in directorate management meetings. 

·            Concerns were expressed by the Committee in relation to the number of mental health related absences and queried what action was being taken to help address this. 

·            It was confirmed that support and direct intervention was available for managers from HR Business Partners and Mental Health First Aiders around mental health issues. 

·            The Committee received assurances that the Occupational Health Unit had the capacity to be able to deal with any mental health referrals quickly and sufficiently. 

·            The Committee noted that there could potentially be under reporting of sickness absences due to the ability of employees being able to work from home when they have symptoms of colds or coughs.  Managers were reminded to accurately and quickly report sickness absences to ensure the data remains accurate. 

·            In response to a request for information, Phil Quinn, Head of Service HR and OD, agreed to provide the Committee with the Council’s sickness absence rate for the last 9 months. 

·            It was questioned why the Children’s directorate had the greatest number of sickness absences during the financial year 2021/22.

·            In response, it was noted that the Council had been unable to fill vacant Social Work posts, which had led to higher caseloads for existing Social Workers, which had impacted upon existing staff.  A range of recruitment and retention interventions were now in place and continue to be worked on to help address this issue. 

·            In relation to the financial cost of sickness absences, it was confirmed that costs were calculated on average salaries across the Council. 

RESOLVED

i)           That the report be received.

ii)          That the Committee be provided with the Council’s sickness absence rate for the last 9 months.