Agenda item

The Human Resources and OD Manager presented to members of the Safety Committee a report on Sickness Absence for Quarter 1. The average number of days lost for April to June was 1.5 days which over the course of the year would equate to approximately 6 days per employee.

Table one of the report detailed a comparison of days lost over the past three years with this quarter being lower than it had previously been. The figures showed that there had been a reduction in short term absence but a slight increase for long term absence. A breakdown for departments experiencing the highest level of absence was shown in table 4 of the report with table five showing the departments that had experienced the lowest levels of absence over quarter 1.

A further table in the report showed a breakdown of the most common reasons for sickness absence with stress and depression being the main factor followed by headaches and migraines, this followed a similar pattern to reports from previous quarters. Appendix 1 to the report also detailed a breakdown of where services were split between the two Authorities such as Environmental Health and Service Desk and the days lost in those areas.

At the time of the meeting collation of data specifically regarding Covid-19 and the impact on individual service areas was still ongoing. Prior to this meeting a request had been made at the Union / Employee Consultation Committee (UECC) regarding individual employees had tested positive for Covid-19 and if there was any concerns that there had been transmission within the workplace. The Human Resources and OD Manager advised that the requested information had already been provided informally to the Senior Management Team for monitoring purposes. Currently a majority of those displaying symptoms had not returned a negative test and it had been a seasonal cold / allergy but it was an ever changing situation with such a close overlap of symptoms.

A question arose from Members requiring clarity on the breakdown of service areas as to whether or not Councillors fell under the category of Leaders and Executive as in table 4 this showed the highest area of absence for the quarter. The Human Resources and OD Manager confirmed that Councillors sickness absence wasn’t recorded under that heading and it was based just on the department employees. It was noted that areas such as Customer Services had gone from being in the highest three for absence to one of the lowest three departments in the last quarter and members queried the reasons behind this. Further discussions outlined various different factors for the change in figures with the most likely being that a large percentage of staff were able to work from home where they previously hadn’t been. Specifically relating to Customer Services the ability to work from home hadn’t been available due to the nature of their roles and being customer facing however, ways to access the systems from home had started to be implemented prior to the lockdown.

A representative of Unison questioned how assessments of things such as lighting could be assessed for those working from home that would normally be carried out in the workplace as headaches and migraines were a common cause of absence. Senior Managers had been requested to regularly make contact with employees working from home to assess any areas of concern with working from home setups. At the next service managers meeting the Human Resources and OD Manager advised that she would be reminding managers to take appropriate action and follow up any observations and concerns. Guidance would also be circulated to employees working from home reminding them of best practice and also actions they could take to work from home comfortably and efficiently.

Members also questioned whether or not people who had been instructed by the Government to shield had had a significant impact on the figures detailed in the report and how much it had effected each department. In response to the query the Human Resources and OD Manager advised that a large percentage had been able to work from home and continue to carry out their normal role and all those that had been long term shielding had remained on full pay so there had been no financial implication for them. If employees were shielding and working from home they had been classed as fit for work so hadn’t been counted in the figures detailed in the report.

Moved by Councillor Trisha Clough and seconded by Councillor Nick Clarke

RESOLVED that the Quarter 1 Sickness Absence report be noted with all members voting in favour.