Report reveals sickness cost council £11m

STAFF sickness at Cardiff council cost £11m last year, a report has found.

Council employees took an average of nearly 11 days off due to illness in 2016/2017 following an increase in long-term sickness.

In a report presented to Cardiff council, stress and “muscular-skeletal conditions” were described as the biggest cause of long-term absence.

Employees aged in their 50s and 60s were also found to be “disproportionately” likely to call in sick.

Responding to the figures, trade union Unison said staff faced growing pressures after funding cuts and “round after round” of redundancies.

The report, produced by Andy Mudd and presented to Cardiff Policy Review and Performance Scrutiny Committee, said: “Refuse collectors in Cardiff are the group that is most likely to be absent sick.

“This is however in line with the experience of other local authorities and there is no evidence that refuse collectors in Cardiff are more likely than refuse collectors elsewhere to be absent.

“The work is of a heavy manual nature, it is carried on outdoors and is difficult to perform if not fully fit.”

Teachers were named the least likely to call in sick.

Of a total cost of £11m, £3.8m was caused by absences within grade four and five workers including care workers, refuse workers, teaching assistants, school catering staff and enforcement officers.

During this time, less than 600 absence cases were subject to the first stage of a formal management procedure.

Speaking during the Cardiff council budget meeting last week, Conservative councillor Philippa HillJohn described increasing staff absences as “an area the council is happy to ignore”.

Coun Hill-John asked for the local authority to follow the practices set by Merthyr Tydfil council, with an average absence rate of 5.5 days per year.

She said: “Absence and sickness is but one example of poor performance and high costs where vested interests win over efficient practice.”

Emma Garson, Unison Cardiff branch secretary, said: “Everyone loses out when council employees are off sick and we want to work with the council to ensure sickness absences are as low as possible.

“You can’t escape the environment local government workers are operating in. Austerity driven by the UK Conservative government has a social cost. We have faced severe spending cuts, round after round of redundancies and council employees already under great pressure – such as in social work and elsewhere – have to do more with dramatically reduced resources.

“At the same time, people left in some very desperate positions because their welfare benefits have been cut, expect council staff to come to their aid.

“Council leaders have introduced progressive policies for well-being for school staff; on mental health and the menopause. However, that message of being a supportive employer, dedicated to improving the welfare of your staff, is just not getting through at the grass roots level.”

Cardiff council’s cabinet member for finance, modernisation and performance, Chris Weaver, said: “Based on the latest available figures, the quarter three sickness absence figure is 8.03 days lost per full-time equivalent member of staff.

“As a result, we are projecting a sickness absence rate of just over 11 days per full-time equivalent member of staff for 2017/18.

“Although this is a slight increase, it is worth noting that sickness absence fell significantly year-onyear between 2012/13 and 2015/16.”