Fifty attendance review hearings as council’s staff sickness rockets

STEFAN JAJECZNYK

HYNDBURN council’s leader claims the authority has one of the lowest levels of sickness in the region, despite the number of staff sickness cases increasing by 39 per cent over the last year.

In a new report, figures show that the council dealt with 74 sickness cases in 2017/18 - of which 50 led to formal attendance review hearings for 32 employees.

Coun Miles Parkinson said overall sickness has reduced over the last decade, in spite of the recent rise, and that the rate is ‘well below’ the average for the region.

He said: “This increase is due to a small number of longer term absences due to serious health issues and the reality is that most of our staff have no time off at all through illness, or only the very occasional day.

“Our sickness absence, which had been reducing steadily over the past 10 years is still one of the lowest figures in the region and well below the average for the sector.

“We will continue to monitor sickness absence closely and carry on with our measures to keep figures as low as possible.”

However, in a report - which was presented on September 11 to the council’s Resources Overview and Scrutiny Committee - head of human resources Kirsten Burnett said the number of cases relating to sickness was higher than usual.

The report also admits the increase has put pressure on other areas of work.

She said: “The increase of 39 per cent from the previous year in formal cases, coupled with a reduction in qualified HR officers, has required careful planning to ensure we have been able to support different stages of the processes.

“This has put pressure on other areas of work and our ability to respond quickly to requests from managers and staff.”

As a result of the formal hearings, nine employees were issued final improvement notices while 19 first improvement notices were issued. The remaining 22 meetings concluded with no action, and 23 separate welfare meetings were held.

Staff turnover for 2017/2018 rose, with 33 employees leaving the council overall. Four staff were dismissed while one worker left as a result of a temporary contract coming to an end.

Staff turnover at the council rose from 9.8 cent in 2016/17 to 12.1 per cent. The average for Lancashire councils who provided data was 12.9 per cent.