Agenda item

The HR Business Partner presented the report into Sickness Absence – Quarter 3.

Figure 1 of the report showed a summary of the sickness absence levels within BDC for the months October – December 2023.  The HR Business Partner noted the report presented background data, the key trends and what actions the Council were taking.

Attached to the report was a set of appendices and details on the proportions of long-term and short-term absences.

Absence for the Senior Managers Group was shown as 50% of the total absence for Joint Senior Managers, as this was split with Bolsover/NE Derbyshire District Councils.  For other employees the absences included were for the employing authority only.

The HR Business Partner highlighted that the average number of days lost per employee for Quarter 3 was 1.89 days, which was a reduction from previous data.  The 2023/24 projected outturn figure for the average number of days lost per employee was 8.72 days.  This would be confirmed when the Quarter 4 data was available.

It was also highlighted that in 4 Council Services, there had been no recorded sickness in Quarter 3 and a further 6 Services experienced less than 1 day per FTE employee.

However, Stress/Depression remained in the top three reasons for absence since 2019/20.

There had been 8 cases of absence due to Stress/Depression during Quarter 3, two of which were work related, and 6 were none work related.

Covid-19 had accounted for 64 days lost due to sickness, in comparison to 18 days lost in Quarter 2.

There had been 11 long-term sickness cases in this quarter, 8 had been due to physical health ailments and 6 had been related to Stress/Depression (one of which was work related).  Appropriate support and assistance were being provided to facilitate support for those who had returned to work and those planning to do so.  3 had now returned to work, 8 remained absent (1 of which, the Council was pursuing the Ill Health Retirement route) and 1 had retired on Ill Health Grounds.

The HR Business Partner referred the Committee to the actions the Council had/were taking, which was set out in the report.  Managers had support from the HR Advisor and were issued monthly sickness absence information.  Managers were also able to access sickness information on their teams on a daily basis via HR21 Self Service.

At 10:07 hours, Councillor Cathy Jeffery entered the meeting.

Steps the Council had taken to support employees included:

·       Mental Health awareness sessions were now available ‘on demand’ for all employees via Eric and had previously been delivered across the Council as part of the Council’s quarterly corporate training programme.

·       Awareness training explained that colleagues and managers were not specialists in mental health and their role was to listen to employees and signpost them to the appropriate support.

·       Mental Health awareness initiatives and possible support was continually publicised via Eric and the weekly bulletin.  Recent examples of which included:

o   the Mental Health Map, which features all the pathways and support options available in Derbyshire;

o   Mental Health Awareness week – promoting the available guidance and support available;

o   SHOUT – an organisation which provided 24/7 confidential support to anyone struggling to cope.

·       Cycle to Work Scheme was also available to encourage health and wellbeing and to address carbon emissions – the number of employees who had subscribed during 2023/24 would be reported in the Quarter 4 report.

·       The number of employees subscribing to the Gym during 2023/24 would also be reported in the Quarter 4 report.

·       Managers and employees had access to Occupational Health, Counselling, Physiotherapy, the Council’s Employee Assistance Programme and other support.

·       Employees were signposted to incentives which were available via Leisure i.e.:

o   To encourage health and wellbeing staff could take up membership for Go! Active, which included gym, swim and classes for only £15 per month.

o   There was a Health Referral Programme (Physical Activity & Lifestyle Support) which was available to Employees residing within the BDC Area – This was a programme aimed at changing behaviours and finding solutions to assist people facing daily challenges resulting in a concentrated approach regarding service users’ health and wellbeing.

A Member asked for more information on how the Council supported the mental health of staff.  The HR Business Partner informed the Committee that there were awareness sessions for managers to stay proactive when employees had issues of mental health.  This in turn prevented time-off being taken by staff, though for some taking time-off work was necessary to recover.  There was also counselling services available and a 24-hour helpline to talk to an adviser.  The promotion of these services was also being carried out and there was also mental health first aid training available.  The HR Business highlighted that promoting available health and wellbeing services prevented mental health issues from developing.

The HR Business Partner noted there was no one solution to handle this sort of health care, though this was why the Council had recently recruited an Employment Engagement Officer to explore and manage this sort of support.

The HR Business Partner added that managers were being trained to identify problems via mental health awareness sessions to spot issues as soon as possible to enable staff to access the support they needed.

The Chair contributed that the Council had specific measures and programmes in place, and that one of the services, Physical Activity and Lifestyle Support, had been very successful.  The Chair used one example where an individual had not received any help in two years, but after a visit from the Active Lifestyles Manager, within a matter of weeks the individual was seeking help.

The Member sought more information on the managers and asked about the guidance they were receiving to assist staff.  The Strategic Director of Services contributed that it was not uncommon for managers to notice the changes in their staff.  While some staff would need to take the time off and recuperate, others may prefer to stay at work if the problem was located at home.

A Member mentioned that at their place of work, to promote their scheme, mental health posters had been produced and placed in many areas.  They asked if this was the case at the Council offices.

The Vice-Chair highlighted that the UNISON branch had discussed this and were looking at posters and different programmes ranging from yoga to pilates, and reiterated this was why the Employment Engagement Officer had been recruited to explore such options.

A Member asked if this support was available for all staff, and not just UNISON members.  The Vice-Chair stated that UNISON did provide lots of free training to its members, but training was available outside unions and the goal was for the Council to want all staff involved in any new training. 

The Vice-Chair noted that North East Derbyshire District Council and Derbyshire County Council had different coping mechanism training, and that the information on this could be submitted to the next meeting of the Committee.

The Strategic Director of Services thanked the HR Business Partner and the HR and Payroll Team, as some cases had to be dealt with very sensitively.

Moved by Councillor Mary Dooley and seconded by Councillor Vicky Wapplington

RESOLVED that the report be noted.