Issue - meetings

Consideration was given to the report of the Head of Organisational Development and Director of Social Services which was presented to provide Members of specific scrutiny committees the opportunity to scrutinise and challenge relevant Directorate sickness absence performance and the proposed actions for improvements.

The Director of Social Services spoke to the report and highlighted the main points contained therein.

Members welcomed the report but raised concerns regarding high sickness levels in the Directorate and refresher training for managers on the iTrent system.  The Director explained that reducing sickness absence levels remained a priority for the Council and CLT were working towards developing an action plan to reduce sickness levels.  The Directorate had a duty of care towards staff and protecting vulnerable people who used their services.  Provider Services would always have a higher than average sickness absence level than the general Council due to the nature of the services they provide, i.e. staff with flu would need to be absent for a period of 48 hours before visiting service users to prevent the spread of infections.

A Member raised concerns with the number of staff on sick leave due to mental health issues.  The Director responded that over the last 5-10 years the numbers of staff on sick leave due to stress and anxiety had increased, but it was important to note that staff formed relationships with service users and may be affected by bereavements.  Well-being courses were being piloted to make staff and managers more resilient.

A Member enquired if the Council provided mental health care for employees.  The Director explained that staff with stress and anxiety would be referred to Occupational Health to try to intervene early to prevent sickness absence occurring.

Another Member raised concerns that only 45% return to work interviews were being carried out and recorded.  The Director stressed that return to work interviews were important to establish the reasons why staff were on sick leave. However, there were some difficulties due to employees shift patterns, whereby some staff did not see their line manager for up to 2 days.  The Council had a Corporate Sickness Absence Policy which worked well for staff who work 9-5 and office based, however, there were some anomalies i.e. provider staff who work shift patterns.

The Committee AGREED to recommend that the report be accepted and endorse Option 2; namely that the report and proposed arrangements to support the improvement in attendance be approved.