Agenda item

M Potter, Service Director Business Intelligence, HR and Communications,  presented the Annual Employee Sickness Absence Performance Management Report for the year 2022-23.

The following key points were noted:

·         The outturn figure reported was 11.09 days against a target of 7.5 days.

·         The majority of reported absences were due to infectious diseases such as COVID-19 along with mental health in 2022-23.

·         Public sector sickness was generally higher than in the private sector.  This had been the case since 1995. An ONS report in 2022 found the days lost per worker in the private sector was 5.0 days, versus 7.1 days in local government and 10.7 days in healthcare.

·         The report had been received by both SMT and Cabinet and had also been presented at the Scrutiny Committee.

In the ensuing discussion, the following key points were highlighted:

·         Variation in numbers by quarter occurred regularly due to seasonal illnesses.

·         In regard to the increase in absences, this could be mainly attributed to mental health absences however it was noted that in Q1 of this year these types of absences had fallen to pre-pandemic levels.

·         Research was currently being undertaken on any links between the covid-19 pandemic and mental health. The Council had seen an increase in the number of requests for counselling due to difficulties accessing services via the NHS.

·         The main priority for the Council was to reduce the number of sickness absences. Various initiatives had been undertaken including working towards wellbeing accreditation and becoming a menopause friendly employer.

·         The Council had launched a new managing attendance procedure which included mandatory training for line managers.

·         In regard to the PDR data, the Governance and Ethics Board was beginning to review the data and track variation trends. PDRs were undertaken on a 12-month rolling period and Power BI dashboards to monitor which PDRs were ready for review.

RESOLVED that:-

(i)            Members note the update; and

(ii)          That Members be provided with details of the percentage of staff on sickness leave and the average length of time off sick.