Agenda item

            The Committee was reminded that a robust and corporate approach to the consistent management of absence had been put in place and resources had been prioritised to ensure that every effort was made to minimise absence.  This had included the development and negotiated agreement of a new Attendance policy, the identification and monitoring of “hot spots”, weekly identification and monitoring of priority cases across the Council, monthly central monitoring of Departmental compliance with absence procedures, the implementation of a case review mechanism and the delivery of a training programme on effective absence management.  This had provided a good example of how a central support service could work in conjunction with Departments to deliver a corporate priority.  The Acting Head of Human Resources reported that the work had resulted in the reduction in sickness absence of almost two days during the past two years as shown below:

            The Acting Head of Human Resources then made the following points:

·         at the end of the financial year 2007/08 the average number of days of sickness absence per full-time employee had been 13.91 days;

·         that had been the lowest figure for absence which the Council had had since 1999/00;

·         the Council had reduced its absence by 2,708 days, or 7.75 % for the year;

·         over the two-year period the figure had reduced by nearly two average days per person (1.84 days or 11.6%);

·         35% of staff had no absence during 2007/08;

·         65% of staff had less than the Confederation of British Industry norm for the private sector, that is, six days;

·         7.5% of staff had been absent from work on a long-term basis (more than twenty consecutive working days);

·         long-term sickness had accounted for nearly 70% of the Council’s sickness absence;

·         Departmental sizes had a significant impact on the overall sickness figures;

·         three Departments had met their annual absence targets – those Departments which had not achieved their targets had either reduced or maintained their 2006/07 figure; and

·         all Departments would develop action plans to improve absence rates to achieve their targets as part of the Departmental Planning Process and it would be a performance requirement for all senior managers to develop and implement those action plans in accordance with Council policy.

            The Acting Head of Human Resources explained that best practice had indicated that longer term targets for the reduction of absence rates should be set by organisations.  Also, the introduction of the new Attendance Policy would take time to imbed.  It was therefore proposed that the Council’s target should be to reduce its average absence rate to 12 days by 2011.  That was a reduction of a further two days and would represent a 14% reduction in the period from 2008/09 to 2010/11.  In order to assist the Council in achieving the target, absence management would continue to be a key priority within the Council’s Human Resources framework.  Work was continuing in order to maintain and improve absence rates, including:

·         the implementation of the new Attendance Policy.  The Trades Unions had agreed the new policy and work was now underway to develop and agree detailed guidance on its application.  A training and communication plan had been developed to ensure effective implementation;

·         a review of the Occupational Health Service to ensure that it could support effectively a robust attendance culture;

·         ongoing monthly central monitoring of compliance with absence management procedures, weekly identification and monitoring of priority cases across the Council and the effective management of case reviews;

·         a programme of health and well-being activities; and

·         the setting of performance management targets for all senior managers to develop absence action plans and implement them in accordance with Council policy.

            During discussion in the matter, the Members made the point that, whilst the absence figures had shown a downward trend, it was essential for this to be maintained and to ensure that it was attained across all of the Council’s Departments.  In addition, it was recognised that sickness absence was a major problem but that the Council had been proactive in introducing systems in order to attempt to achieve a decrease in the number of days of sickness absence throughout the Council and would continue to monitor the effect which the new policies had in achieving reductions.