Agenda item

Report of the Director of People and Commercial Services (HRMDC/16/6) attached.

The Committee considered a report of the Director of People and Commercial Services (HRMDC/16/6) that set out the 2015/16 year end performance figures for sickness absence together with an update on the progress made to date with the Action Plan.

The Human Resources Manager advised the Committee that sickness absence for all staff in 2015/16 was 9.10 days on average per person as compared with 9.74 days in 2014/15.  Whilst this was an improvement in performance, the Service was not complacent and continued to implement the Action Plan to seek to reduce this further.  He referred to the performance for different categories of staff, namely:

·        Wholetime statin based staff;

·        Wholetime non-statin based staff;

·        Control staff; and,

·        Support staff.

It was noted that, within wholetime staff, long term sickness (periods over 28 days) and short term certified sickness (between 8 and 28 days) had improved with a 27% reduction and an actual sickness absence rate of 7.16 days on average per person for the year.  Control had also seen an improvement primarily through a reduction in long term sickness but this remained higher than in other staff categories.  Support staff had seen an increase in sickness absence from 8.17 days in 2014/15 to 8.70 days in 2015/16 but this was an improvement on quarter 3.  The position for wholetime non station based staff had deteriorated, however, from 9.55 days lost in 2014/15 to 10.98 days in 2015/16.

The Committee expressed the view that it would prefer to see reported the actual number of staff off sick at any one time rather than the average number of days taken as not all staff would have had absence due to sickness.  Councillor Knight also commented that he felt there was duplication with sickness absence also being reported to the Audit & Performance Review Committee.  He requested that this be reviewed and also that this report covered any sickness patterns that may emerge from the data.  Additionally, he suggested that the figures for long term sickness absence for wholetime staff be adjusted so that sickness resulting from injury on duty through operational incidents were recorded separately 

The Human Resources Manager commented that the Service  held  information on injuries on duty and that new reports would need to be developed to show this information.  In terms of the reporting of sickness paterns, he advised the Committee that managers were already required to monitor sickness absence carefully and any period of three absences would trigger a review meeting to discuss this in more detail. Local managers were therefore far better placed to identify where any sickness pattern might occur. The Director of People and Commercial Services added that it may help the Committee to see information in respect of any disciplinary action taken in respect of sickness and this could be provided in a health of the organisation paper to the Committee, along with information in respect of capability issues, long term sickness and so on.

Councillor Wheeler enquired about a national proposal to move to GP medical certificates after fourteen days instead of seven.  The  Human Resources Manager commented that he was aware of this proposal but that the Service would prefer to see the submission of certificates for  sickness absence based on the seven days as was the current arrangement

RESOLVED that the Service continues with the action plan directed towards reducing down sickness absence.