Published Date: Jun 22nd, 2023
Next Thursday, 29 June, Fife Council’s Cabinet Committee will be asked to use £805,000 from financial balances to establish an Attendance Support Unit. This would help managers and supervisors provide more proactive and effective support when employees are unwell.
This would be a significant investment, however the Head of HR has set out the anticipated indirect financial benefits to the council from enabling absent employees to return to work earlier, reducing the cost of providing staff cover and increasing productivity as services return to optimal staffing levels. A similar model to the proposed Attendance Support Unit was successful in reducing absence levels previously.
Speaking about the report scheduled for consideration, Council Leader Cllr David Ross noted that absence rates are increasing in councils and businesses across the country and said the figures in Fife are a major cause for concern.
“These are the highest staff absence levels ever reported in our organisation,” he said. “And it’s a reflection of the tougher working conditions, financial challenges and stretched resources across our public services post-pandemic. Not just council services, but the health services that support our workforces too.
Cllr Ross continued: “More staff are being signed off long-term sick, particularly with mental health and musculoskeletal issues, and those absences are now lasting much longer. That not only affects our ability to maintain service levels, it puts more pressure on remaining colleagues, especially when many teams are already short-staffed due to national skills shortages. It can also be costly if we have to buy in agency cover for essential services.
“We know the NHS is under strain and mental health and physio services can’t cope with demand – people are waiting longer for treatment which is exacerbating the problem. As a Council we have no control over that, but we must act now and do what we can to improve employee absence rates.
“I will be supporting the HR team’s recommendation for an Attendance Support Unit and I hope other Cabinet members will agree.”
In 2021/22 the average number of working days lost per council employee reached 13.26.
Ken Gourlay, Fife Council’s incoming Chief Executive, will join committee members at the Cabinet meeting.
Mr Gourlay said: “It’s clear we can’t maintain the status quo. We need to halt and reverse this trend in absence, for the good of our staff as well as the public we serve.
“As we look at this report it’s also important to remember that this is not a reflection of the dedication of our workforce.
“This is about people - our friends and relatives – who are working in physical jobs with hard shifts, like waste operations, adult services and care at home. Working across the care sector and in community support roles has been additionally stressful, of course, over these past few years.
“We use the average number of working days lost as an indicator of trends, but the average is certainly not the norm for most staff. The majority of our employees are rarely off sick and, when they are, it’s for a relatively short period of time. The number of short-term absences recorded has also increased, so it’s something we’ll look at, but the main issue we face is how to bring people with long-term health conditions back into the workplace sooner.”