ATTENDA

NCE

AND

WELLBEI

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SCRUTIN

Y REVIEW

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Summary of the Group’s Findings and Recommendations 3

Background and Context 5

Links to Council and Community Priorities 7

Role and Membership of the Task and Finish Group 8

Evidence Gathered and Witness Interviews 9

Findings and Recommendations 23

Bibliography 28

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Summary of the Group’s Findings and Recommendations The Task Group was established in 2012 after discussions at the Scrutiny Management Board. Whilst it was intended to take an overview of the work already undertaken, the task group took this as a starting point but also focused upon the authority’s current systems and practices and where improvements could be made going forward. The task group examined the local, regional and national context for the topic, considered where Cumbria sits within public sector organisations and how it compares to local public sector organisations. The review proved to be particularly timely, as the authority has recently implemented the Single Status Pay Review and, in response to a reduction in central government funding, been busy reorganising and restructuring the authority and dealing with a number of voluntary redundancy applications as part of this process. It is anticipated that, with all this now behind the authority for the time being, there will be a renewed focus on the issues around absence and supporting staff back to work. The group felt that there had been enough analysis and resources applied to address the issues of absenteeism and wellbeing, over many years, but little impact had been made on these issues. Indeed, the absence figures have increased over the last few years. However, the group felt it was difficult to compare the current absence figures, with those quoted in the previous scrutiny work. Whilst the task group appreciate the overall impact of the Single Status programme and the recent round of voluntary redundancies, the absence figures continue to be a cause for concern in the authority. By improving absence rates, the task group felt that the authority stands to save money that could be better used to support existing services, reducing the need for budget and service cuts in the long term. Recommendation 1 The task group recommends that Organisational Development examines how to embed positive attendance and wellbeing practices across the authority, to ensure that the Midland Trent system is properly updated so that the absence data is accurate. Recommendation 2 The task group challenge the authority to ensure that it has in place procedures and practices to support line managers in rigorously tackling patterns of absences and these needs to be applied consistently across all directorates, with directors and line managers taking ownership. Recommendation 3 One suggested improvement for the Positive Attendance Policy was the way in which returns to work were recorded on the Midland Trent system and the fact that this was currently only possible through the submission of a completed return-to-work form, which meant some absences remained ‘open’ on the system after the employee had returned to work.

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Recommendation 4 The task group recommends that a pilot exercise be undertaken in Cumbria Care to compare the data in Trent against the collated data in the department, to identify discrepencies. Recommendation 5 (a) The task group recommends that corporate directors have targets specifically to reduce

absences to bring the authority in line with the national average for public sector. (b) All line managers are given targets for reducing absenteeism, within their own area of

responsibility. Recommendation 6 The authority should examine whether it would give more value to consider buying in Occupational Health services, on an ad hoc basis, rather than continuing with a contract where the flat rate cost is £273,000 per annum. Recommendation 7 The Adult and Local Services Directorate are the focus of a sustained campaign to address the issue of absences, which are currently 21.4 days, against a public sector average of 8.1 days. Recommendation 8 The task group recommends that the Employee Assistance Helpline is revisited, to determine whether this is providing value for money for the authority. Recommendation 9 The Midland Trent system should be review to ensure that differing shift patterns are recorded accurately, eg: employees working over a 7-day period, those working over a 5-day period and those on part-time contracts.

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1. Background and Context 1.1 Scrutiny Management Board considered an interim report on Attendance and

Wellbeing at their meeting in July 2011. Members decided that, against a number of other topics they wished to see reviewed this topic should be examined by a task group to see how absence rates might be improved in the authority.

1.2 The interim report highlighted for the Board current sickness absence levels for the

authority and drew comparison with other employment sectors and suggested that work might be undertaken to examine the issues behind poor attendance and what action might be taken to address this.

1.3 The report highlighted a number of key themes in considering the topic, and suggested

these could inform a scrutiny review:

• Absence Management Data - there were issues around the accuracy of absence data, including how this is recorded and monitored;

• Absence Trends - by examining absence trends, it is possible to highlight any specific issues that need to be addressed within the workforce of the authority;

• Management/Employee Accountability and Support - there are responsibilities for both managers and employees in managing and reporting sickness absence and it is crucial that existing policies are understood and being applied. This includes Positive Attendance Policy, Corporate and Directorate Scorecards and the ‘self-service’ system for managers;

• Employee Wellbeing and Support - for employee wellbeing, there are initiatives such as ‘Stuck Not Sick’ and the introduction of earlier interventions from Occupational Health that should be examined. With musculoskeletal disorders and stress being the top 2 reasons for absence, ways of addressing and reducing these should be examined.

1.4 In 2011, a Confederation of British Industry (CBI) published a report on their findings

from a survey on health in the workplace, identifying some key facts on absenteeism in the UK, including the following:

o There were 190 million working days lost to absence in 2010, with an average

absence rate per employee of 6.5 days off sick. o In terms of cost impact, the 190 million days cost employers around £17bn in direct

costs, with an estimated £2.7bn from the 30.4 million days of “non-genuine sickness absence”.

o Across the different sectors, there are varying average days of absence, per employee, with 2010 figures showing 8.1 in public sector, 5.9 in private sector and 5.2 in manufacturing.

o The introduction of the government’s new ‘fit note’ procedure in 2010 had little impact, with the absence rate overall slightly higher than the preceding year.

1.5 The survey found that the government’s ‘fit note’ scheme has not had the desired

impact on absenteeism, with 66% of employers responding to the survey stating that this had not helped to get people back to work any quicker, whilst some 71% did not feel that GPs were using these any differently from the traditional sick note.

1.6 The CBI’s report provides some critical background analysis of the facts and figures,

with useful comparisons between public and private sector absence. For example, the cost per absent employee in the public sector averaged around 46% more than those

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in the private sector for 2010 (£1,040 versus £710 median costs respectively, with £681 in the manufacturing industry). Whilst long-term absence is usually identified as being of 20 working days (or 28 calendar days), nearly a third of lost working time due to staff absence is long-term related, rising to 47% in the public sector: the report concludes that this points to a significant issue for the sector in tackling rehabilitation.

1.7 The setting of targets to specifically address absence in 2011-12 was apparent in over

a third of employers, and half of those in the public sector. The report highlighted the fact that line managers play an integral role in managing staff absence and support their return to work, with return-to-work interviews becoming widely accepted as a very effective tool. However, the report also states that so-called ‘sickies’ (non-genuine sickness absence) accounts for around 16% of working time lost, with the cost of over £2.7bn to the UK’s economy.

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2. Links to Council and Community Priorities 2.1 In reviewing the Council’s approach to attendance and wellbeing, there are a number

of links to the Council Plan. The 2011-2014 plan identifies 3 specific areas of focus: challenging poverty; supporting the most vulnerable people; and improving life chances for the most disadvantaged.

2.2 These priorities are identified against the context of challenging economic times at

local, regional and national levels. The level of funding received from government has reduced significantly to the public sector, in its endeavours to repay the national deficit. For Cumbria County Council this has meant identifying savings of £85m from its budget between 2011 and 2015, with between £24 and £39m of that needing to be made from 2012-15.

2.3 All of this means that the Council has had to set out its stall with the following key aims:

• the council needs to be as efficient and effective as possible;

• services need to be re-engineered to achieve the above aim;

• services need to be prioritised to ensure that resources are targeted to protect the most vulnerable;

• finding new and innovative ways of doing things;

• providing services that focus on customers. 2.4 Underpinning the Council Plan are the individual directorates’ service plans, with the

2011-12 plan for Organisational Development aligning its key priorities with the Council’s 3 priority areas, through using information technology and business improvement to drive efficiencies and service improvement across the organisation, ensuring that the right people are in place, working in modern and efficient ways and improving value for money through better procurement, contract management and working with external partners.

2.5 The Service Plan has specific aims under ‘people management’ which includes

promoting health, safety and wellbeing for our the Council’s employees, with the directorate taking the lead on the provision of Occupational Health services, working with the provider Morecambe Bay Health Trust who gained the contract in February 2011.

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3. Role and Membership of the Task and Finish Group 3.1 The review topic was initially suggested by a scrutiny member and the task group was

comprised of volunteers from across the non-executive members of the authority. The suggestion had come forward to alert members to the important issue of absenteeism for the authority, particularly as the number of absences in 2012 represented an increase despite previous member work undertaken, to address the underlying issues. The task group wanted to identify what good practice looks like for attendance and wellbeing and what evidence there was of good practice being used elsewhere that could usefully be applied in Cumbria.

3.2 Members were concerned that the authority was losing jobs and services, but was

failing to address the issue of absenteeism. It was agreed that the aims of the review would be to establish:

o the key factors behind the increase of absences in the County Council in recent

years; o what systems the authority had in place for attendance and wellbeing; o whether any changes could be made to improve the authority’s overall absence

figures. 3.3 A key outcome from the review was intended to be to identify practical ways to address

the wasted resources caused by absenteeism and how improved systems and mechanisms could allow available resources to be directed towards supporting jobs and services in the authority.

3.4 The task group members were:

o Councillor Ray Cole; o Councillor Frank Morgan (Chair); o Councillor Val Tarbitt.

3.5 The task group met over a period of 4 meetings from March to May 2012, and

conducted witness sessions with senior Council officers and external private sector professionals, to get their view on current issues around absenteeism and how the authority might reduce this. The fourth and final meeting was an opportunity for the task group to review their report and agree their recommendations and findings.

3.6 This final report has been drawn up as a result of the task group’s investigations and

details of who they met and the evidence gathered are outlined below.

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4. Witness Interviews 4.1 The task group met with a range of professionals both in and outside the authority, to

examine the issues around attendance and wellbeing, including any examples of innovative and/or good practice that the authority might introduce to reduce the frequency and length of staff absences. The Group undertook the following meetings:

Wednesday 21 March 2012 – Scoping Meeting

o Kate James - HR Advisor, Organisational Development o Luci Robb – Senior HR Manager, Organisational Development o Jamie Sims – Assistant Director, People Management

Monday 2 April 2012 – Witness Session

o Kate James - HR Advisor, Organisational Development o Luci Robb - Senior HR Manager, Organisational Development o Jim Savege - Corporate Director Organisational Development o Ayesha Siddiqi – Employment Solicitor o Jamie Sims - Assistant Director - People Management

Monday 30 April 2012 - Witness Session

o Cllr Liz Mallinson – Cabinet Member for Organisational Development o Peter George - Group Finance Manager, Organisational Development o Peter Usher – Audit Manager, Resources o Cate Bowman - Head of Cumbria Care o Alison Graham - HR Manager, Organisational Development o Occupational Health – written responses to task group questions provided by Paula

Roles, Deputy Director of Human Resources & Organisational Development. Readers are advised that, whilst witnesses were sought from 2 separate private sector

organisations, both politely declined to participate in the review. Reasons given were primarily due to confidence issues with their own absence data, attributable principally to a high turn over of staff, in common with many private sector care organisations.

Details of the above sessions are outlined below. Monday 2 April 2012 4.2 The task group undertook its first meeting proper, with a number of witnesses to

examine the background to the topic, the Corporate Director’s view and the legal responsibilities and duties of the authority. The following officers attended to support the task group and provide background information and context for discussions:

o Kate James - HR Advisor, Organisational Development o Luci Robb – Senior HR Manager, Organisational Development o Jamie Sims – Assistant Director - People Management

The following officers attended as witnesses:

o Jim Savege - Corporate Director Organisational Development o Ayesha Siddiqi – Employment Solicitor

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The details of discussions are outlined below. Overview and Background 4.3 The task group took the opportunity to review the outcomes of the most recent scrutiny

review work on the issue, with an update on developments following each of the 2005 task group’s 10 recommendations provided by the Senior HR Manager. The task group was, however, mindful that the previous work had taken place against the backdrop of the HR function being outsourced to Capita and, since then, HR had not only been brought back in-house but introduced the Midland Trent data system. Trent was introduced to address absenteeism and additional resources were appointed to assist with home visits etc.

4.4 Whilst the 2011 national sickness average per employee was 6.5 days, for the County

Council it was currently 15.1 days. This meant that the authority was one of the worst performers in the public sector on employee absence. The North West region continues to have higher absence figures than the North East and reasons for this were identified by the Corporate Director for Organisational Development in his witness session (at 4.12 of this report).

4.5 In 2003 the authority had introduced their Positive Attendance Policy, which also

introduced the Employee Assistance Programme. This included a help-line that employees can access both on-line and by telephone providing advice on a range of topics including: health and well-being, financial, work-life balance, legal, family and marital. The service is operated independently by a company called The Positive People Company (PPC) and is completely confidential. This provider subscribes to the Code of Ethics and Confidentiality guidelines of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy.

4.6 At this point, the task group identified the helpline as being something they would like

to know more about, particularly in terms of its use and effectiveness. It was also suggested that it would be worthwhile for the group to consider the views of HR professionals and line managers on how the Positive Attendance Policy might be improved, in terms of tracking and monitoring process as well as data mechanisms.

4.7 One suggested improvement for the Positive Attendance Policy was regarding the way

in which returns to work were recorded on the Midland Trent system and the fact that this was currently only possible through the submission of a completed return-to-work form. This means that some absences remained ‘open’ on the system after the employee had returned to work. This can contribute to a skewing of figures and is a factor in any authority’s concern about the accuracy of their absence data.

4.8 The introduction of the new ‘self-service’ system for line managers in the authority,

should start to address the issue of absences not being closed, with managers able to advise the Midland Trent system immediately on an employee’s return to work. The task group considered the level and type of training provided for managers in managing something as complex and challenging as staff absences. Since 2007, 670 managers across the authority have undertaken some sort of training. This is delivered as both group courses and e-learning.

4.9 The highest number of absences occur in social-care services and the task group were

advised that there has been a reduction in long-term absence in Cumbria Care from 120 in 2005 to 82 currently. The demographics of the workforce, along with the nature of the job, are seen as key factors in the higher absence rates. There may, however,

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be issues around long-term sick procedures, as evidenced in the Voluntary Severance Panels (2011).

4.10 The task group was interested to hear how widespread the uptake of flexible working

was, in the authority, with the flexitime scheme applicable to most areas of the Council. The scheme provides employees with opportunities to negotiate later starts and/or early leaving times to attend to incidents and issues outside work, and this should help to support employees in their work-life balance as well as reducing absences.

4.11 As part of an approach to raising awareness of absence issues across the authority,

HR managers are permanent members of Departmental Management Team meetings, so there is an opportunity in each department to share attendance information at a high level.

Jim Savege – Corporate Director Organisational Development 4.12 The task group put forward 5 questions for the Corporate Director:

• What are the key issues around absenteeism for the Council?

• What do you see as the key factors in the recent absenteeism rates for Cumbria?

• What work is currently ongoing to address these issues?

• What does ‘good’ look like for managing attendance and encouraging wellbeing? Are there ideas from other authorities that could be applied at the County Council?

• Do you have any areas that you feel would be worthwhile the task group focusing upon in the course of this review?

4.13 The Corporate Director began by outlining the recent changes in the ‘climate’ across

the public sector nationally, and the County Council as an organisation. With increasingly reduced funding to support local government, authorities have had to undertake difficult decisions around budget allocation and downsizing their workforce. For Cumbria, this has manifested itself in the round of voluntary redundancies and restructures over the last year. These types of events bring engagement and morale issues for staff and there is a correlation between periods of upheaval and uncertainty with higher absence rates.

4.14 At the County Council, the HR service has been prioritising their efforts and resources

on implementing the Single Status Pay Review, with all that was associated with that, as well as supporting the large volume of major restructures across the authority. now that these large programmes of work have been successfully complete, HR is able to turn its attention to other areas, such as attendance. This means that HR are now freed up to focus more on day to day operational issues, and so absenteeism should move further up the priority list again.

4.15 For the authority, there are questions around whether the current absence policy could

be improved further, whether our existing systems could be improved and, whether we need to do further work on data quality. It is, however, important to be aware that comparing like with like is far more productive. It is also important to ensure that we are comparing like with like in terms of benchmarking. To this end, there is more mileage to be gained from benchmarking the authority’s performance in catering and cleaning (for example) against other companies providing the same services, rather than, say, a generic public sector benchmark. There are acknowledged differences between the absences of blue collar and white collar workers, with absences higher for the former, but specific issues for different groups of workers, dependent on the nature of their work.

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4.16 There are a number of key factors for Cumbrian employees that ought perhaps to be

considered which include less ‘mobility’ in the jobs market here when compared to other parts of the country, with fewer job opportunities and opportunities to recruit perhaps contributing to attendance levels. Cumbria in relative terms is a low pay area, but is also known to have endured some of the effects of economic recession better than other areas. It is known that currently the authority’s Occupational Health provider (Morecambe Bay Health Trust) is dealing with a higher frequency of referrals for counselling and this may reflect the current issues for our workforce of job insecurity and economic concern.

4.17 The introduction of the Corporate and Directorate performance scorecards recently

have served to highlight the need to check existing data and systems in place, as well as standardise the approach to monitoring various aspects of the authority’s performance, including attendance. There is a similar picture across local government, with attendance levels, data quality etc. being of concern for most other authorities. To this end, for Cumbria, there needs to be tighter practice for managing the return to work process and quicker ways of closing absence cases on the Midland Trent system as examples of where we can improve our procedures.

4.18 Cumbria continues to benchmark its absenteeism performance against other

authorities and part of the proactive approach to addressing related issues involves examining the motivational and incentive-based approaches to encouraging improved attendance rates. The use of the ‘Stuck Not Sick’ approach could be a good example of a new approach to introduce, giving employees the opportunity to ‘phone in and report specific issues that may prevent them attending work for a limited period of time (ie: domestic or child-care emergencies) but not preventing them from turning in later, thus removing the perceived need to ‘phone in reporting their absence as sickness-related.

4.19 There are potential benefits for improving attendance levels through the Better Places

for Work initiative. With work being something that employees do rather than a place they go, the authority have embarked on a programme of cultural change and evolving working practices, to encourage more flexible approaches to getting the job done. This introduces new ways of working to the authority, providing greater flexibility is where people work, including encouraging home-working where practicable and fostering a different attitude to work generally. It is anticipated that, with this increased flexibility, this could help to reduce absence rates further.

4.20 To evidence the benefits of cultural change, the Corporate Director highlighted the

experience of Lancashire County Council. It provides Cumbria County Council’s pension service and has recently introduced new ways of working, including home-working, dependent on the number of cases dealt with per working day. The policy states that if an employee falls below the standard number of cases per day, they have to return to office-based working; as a result productivity has increased from and average of 2 to 8 cases per working day.

4.21 In terms of specific areas the task group should examine, the Corporate Director said

only that he would like to see the review’s outcomes improving the authority in a number of key areas and that it would be useful to consider where the outstanding issues remain, following previous work in the 2005 scrutiny on absenteeism.

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Task Group Views 4.22 The task group undertook a brief discussion after the witness interview, to give them

an opportunity to consider any key points emerging from the information provided. Members felt the follow points were worth noting:

• they needed to be aware of what the organisation can effect and what it cannot;

• there may be key areas of improvement for supporting employees, and the review should help identify these;

• Occupational Health feels a bit ‘detached’ from the County Council and, although this service comes from an external provider, it needs to have a higher visibility in the authority and clearer links with personnel;

• the review should look at the practices for early intervention through Occupational Health and whether more innovative practice, such as mobile physiotherapy, could help to address the number 1 cause of absence in the authority, musculoskeletal complaints.

Ayesha Siddiqi – Employment Solicitor 4.23 The task group was joined by an Employment Solicitor from the Legal and Democratic

Services department to consider the legislative context and the authority’s responsibilities and duties with regard to attendance and wellbeing.

4.24 The Solicitor started by outlining the key pieces of legislation that governs the

authority’s activities on this issue, which are:

• Employment Rights Act 1996;

• Equalities Act 2010. The Employment Rights Act brings in the requirement for the employer to follow fair

procedures, consult with employees and clearly outline what the steps are, but also brings in capability and ill health capability. The Equalities Act introduced a number of requirements on employers, including not discriminating on the grounds of disability and making ‘reasonable’ adjustments to accommodate individuals into the workplace. This latter requirement is judged against the size of an organisation, so for public sector employers this is necessarily a greater obligation.

4.25 In 2010 the Fitness To Work requirements were introduced, with GPs completing forms

identifying what work an employee was capable of doing, rather than the traditional ‘sick notes’ that signed them off work completely. Legal Services liaises with colleagues in Occupational Health where so-called ‘fit notes’ are used.

4.26 Members were interested to hear that some authorities keep any disability-related

absences out of their absence statistics and wondered what the practice was at the County Council. There are ongoing problems for all authorities with regard to how they handle disability-related absence, with a range of approaches apparent from the too-harsh to not dealing with this at all, so there is certainly a balance to be achieved here.

4.27 In addition to disability-related absence there was also legislation around pregnancy-

related illness and this could not be counted amongst the regular sickness absence rates. Employers need to be careful with pregnancy-related ill health, as there are sex-discrimination implications in dealing with this. To this end, this type of sickness

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absence needs to be recorded and dealt with in a special way, separate from other sickness data.

4.28 It is not apparent that the new requirements of Fit for Work have meant an increase in

cases for legal services to deal with; legal services get involved when there is a need for legal support to the HR team and there has not been a noticeable increase in tribunal work as a result of this.

Task Group Views 4.29 The task group wondered whether there were statistics available from the authority to

identify how many employees have changed their job due to ill health, that is through the ‘redeployment’ register.

4.30 The task group asked whether there is additional guidance and learning opportunities

for line managers with regard to disability discrimination. Critically, the task group asked how disability-related and pregnancy-related absences are flagged on the system, to separate this out from the rest of the sickness absence data. This could see a reduction in the overall figures and perhaps provide a more detailed context for some of the data.

Monday 30 April 2012 4.31 The task group undertook its second witness session, to examine the issues around

attendance and wellbeing in greater operational detail. The following officers attended to support the task group and answer their questions:

o Liz Mallinson – Cabinet Member for Organisational Development o Paul Turney – Group Finance Manager, Adult and Local Services o Cate Bowman – Head of Cumbria Care o Alison Graham – HR Manager, Organisational Development

Readers are also advised that the task group was provided with answers to

outstanding questions from their previous session from the following officers, who also supported the task group session:

o Kate James - HR Advisor, Organisational Development o Luci Robb – Senior HR Manager, Organisational Development o Jamie Sims – Assistant Director - People Management

The task group also received a written response to their questions on the Occupational

Health service provided by Morecambe Bay Health Trust, along with background information on the authority’s contract for this. This information was provided by Paula Roles - Deputy Director of Human Resources & Organisational Development.

The details of discussions are outlined below. Liz Mallinson – Cabinet Member for Organisational Development 4.32 The task group welcomed the portfolio holder for Organisational Development, who

had also had involvement in previous scrutiny work on the issue of absenteeism, as a member of the task group that produced a select committee report in 2000. The task group chair introduced the session by stating that their purpose was to ensure that some resolution be achieved through this review work, given that absence rates had

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increased, following the last piece of scrutiny review working 2005, despite the introduction of the Midland Trent system and the Positive Attendance Policy.

4.33 The Cabinet Member began by giving the task group an overview of what the current

issues were for the authority, with regard to the level of absenteeism across the authority. Within the last 2 years, single status had been implemented which had introduced changes to pay and conditions for some staff. In addition, there had been a number of structural reorganisations across the authority, with voluntary redundancies arising from this process. For some departments there had also been the impact of losing a considerable amount of grant funding that had served to support the employment of a number of short-term contracts. All of these factors have had an impact on the morale of existing staff.

4.34 There have been systems put in place to support staff, including the wellbeing group

established in 2005, which focuses on providing well-being support to staff, promoting healthy lifestyle choices and holding road show events for staff that include practical advice and guidance, and access to blood pressure monitoring and other health checks.

4.35 There are, however, some areas of the authority where absence levels are consistently

higher. This means the overall figure for the authority is higher because it raises the number of days lost through sickness absence, per member of staff, when averaged out across the whole authority. One such department is the Adult and Local Services [21.5 days per employee for quarter 3 2011-12, compared to 9.1 average across the public sector nationally] but specifically Cumbria Care within that directorate. The Cabinet Member suggested that the task group should ask how Cumbria Care was addressing this and what the causal factors were behind these figures. However, the key issues were perhaps the nature of the job for the bulk of employees in Cumbria Care, working as care providers in either the residential or home-care settings. The work invariably involved lifting and handling people and this service area had more than its share of physical injury related to this type of work.

4.36 The Cabinet Member also reflected upon the impact of recent changes brought about

by the implementation of single status, with there being some negative impact on the terms and conditions for Cumbria Care staff. This was an issue that the task group resolved to ask their scheduled witness Cate Bowman about in greater detail. The Cabinet Member stated that the changes experienced were not uncommon across the authority and that the exercise had been about placing all staff on a level playing field.

4.37 The task group asked the Cabinet Member for a view on the ownership of the

management of absence in the authority. The Cabinet Member responded that the Midland Trent system allows the collation of absence data, including through sickness and annual leave, and this system allows information to be captured which can then be examined and monitored. The monitoring of sickness absence is undertaken at a high level in the authority, through Corporate Management Team and Directorate Management Teams and then down to the line manager level. The data captured helps to inform managers where there are patterns of absence that require further examination; however, the size of the authority means that some managers can be more proactive than others when implementing the available procedures to tackle patterns of absence that causes concern.

4.38 It was the need to ensure a consistency of approach across the authority that the

Cabinet Member saw as key to achieving a better approach to absenteeism. There are also opportunities for managers to find out about domestic and personal problems that staff may be having, and this can then be tackled through the Stuck Not Sick

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policy. In addition, the flexi-time scheme and the introduction of home-working also contribute to helping tackle non-sickness related absence.

4.39 In terms of taking action to address specific patterns of absence, the Cabinet Member

stated that it is up to the line manager to tackle these with individual members of staff. Where a pattern then continues, and the manager has worked through the available options, then disciplinary action must be used; however, it seems at least anecdotally that this is an area where there may be some reluctance from managers. It is important that the impact of regular absences on other members of staff is considered; where an employee is absent it is their immediate colleagues who pick up the additional work. Where there is an established or emerging pattern of absence (eg: Fridays and or Mondays) this can have an impact on morale and, in the longer term, could contribute to stress issues for those staff who are in work. The employer has a duty of care to its employees and, where long-term absence becomes an issue then this needs to be considered on a case by case basis. Currently, staff have 6 months absence on full pay and the following 6 months on half pay after which no payment is made. However, longer term absences may bring in the question of capability and/or whether the contract of employment should be terminated.

4.40 The introduction of home-working has been positive for the authority and, as someone

with experience of working in other authorities (through peer review work) the Cabinet Member had observed the benefit of this way of working before it was introduced in Cumbria County Council. There are systems in place to ensure that staff are working properly in their home environment and the type of work they do has to be appropriate for home-working. Both ICT and time-management systems are crucial to supporting this way of working, and these are now in place; staff working from home show a conscientious approach to their work and a further benefit is that it removes the need to travel from home to work, which saves time.

4.41 Where staff are unable to travel to their usual place of work due to adverse weather

conditions, the authority has a policy that covers this, advising staff and managers on what to do should travel to work be hazardous or impossible. Before the advent of home-working, staff were advised to get to their nearest County Council office if they were able. This is part of a raft of policies advising staff on correct procedures under a range of different situations, that include maternity and paternity leave, special events guidance, home-working policy and additional opportunities arising from the single status changes to working conditions.

Paul Turney – Group Finance Manager, Adult and Local Services 4.42 The task group was joined by a Finance Manager having responsibility for Adult and

Local Services, to examine the costs to the authority of sickness absence and supporting staff back to work, through a raft of existing initiatives. For the task group a critical consideration was the financial impact of absence on the authority. At a time of austerity, saving resources was paramount and tackling absence rates could, in turn, lead to greater productivity and ultimately achieve savings for the authority.

4.43 The task group noted that, in the 2005 scrutiny report, the cost of absenteeism to the

authority was £9.7m with 9.25 days per full time equivalent. However, with an increase in absence rates since then, the task group was interested in what the cost was to the authority today. The Finance Manager responded that this was £4.4m per annum. Where considering costs to the authority, these are two-fold: there are direct costs, where a member of staff has to have their shift covered by an additional member of staff (eg: care services) and where one does not ordinarily supply cover for an individual’s absence but where fewer staff would be needed if there was no absence at

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all (eg: office-based staff). So whilst there are some areas of work for which there are very open costs associated, there are ‘hidden’ costs in others.

4.44 The task group was given the estimated cost of absences to the authority as a whole

and were advised that the numbers of absences are monitored as part of the performance reporting system. The calculation is based on the number of absences per full time equivalent staff, and is not normally converted into a monetary cost. [This issue was picked up by the task group in the findings and recommendations section of this report].

4.45 However, for Cumbria Care they receive detailed information on their staffing costs so

it is possible for that department only to link reduced activity and absence together. For Cumbria Care, there is a need to cover an individual’s work, so if someone was absent their shift would need to be covered as this is a directly delivered statutory service with specific safeguarding responsibilities. Over recent years, as occupancy rates have fallen in residential care, so activity has fallen and therefore the costs of cover have reduced with regard to residential care.

4.46 In comparing Cumbria with 8 other authorities where absence ranges between 8 to 12

working days per annum, per FTE, the county does not compare favourably, with a much higher level of absence overall. These comparator authorities were: Devon, Northumberland, Whitby, Cornwall, Exeter City, North Lincolnshire, Gateshead, Dumfries and Galloway. However, the Finance Manager urged caution in responding to these figures; there were other issues at play with these other authorities having outsourced their direct provision services, so their rates reflect primarily office-based staff, who have overall lower absence levels in all authorities and this explains the lower absence figures for those authorities.

4.47 The budget for Adult and Local Services has built into it an assumed rate of absence

and necessary cover so that deals with costs up front and does not cause budgetary problems going forward. As well as building in allowances for annual leave and bank holidays, there is 10 days absence per FTE in Cumbria Care. There are, however, cashable savings to be had, which can be realised from direct service delivery but is harder in other service areas to identify. For most types of work across the rest of the authority, managers are expected to deal with absence without having costs built into their budgets, so if for example they needed to replace an absence with agency staff they would have to cover the costs from an existing budget that has no additional resource built in.

4.48 The task group was keen to unpick the reasons behind the lower cost of absence to

the authority now compared to 2005 figures and the Finance Manager responded that without an understanding of how the 2005 figures were produced it was impossible to answer this.

4.49 In terms of costs for external contracts pertaining to absence and staff support, the

task group noted the following:

o Employee Assistance Helpline - £17k per year; o Occupational Health services - £273k flat cost with on costs of £35k for the last

financial year. The task group noted that the helpline has achieved some savings recently because of

the reduced workforce. Meanwhile, the Occupational Health Service, provided by Morecambe Bay Health Trust, charges over and above its flat contract for direct services provided to staff, which resulted in the £35k costs. This represents a

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considerably lower flat rate than received from the previous provider of this service. However, questions were raised again about this cost to the authority. The task group noted that the flat costs are inclusive of pre-employment assessment costs.

Cate Bowman – Head of Cumbria Care Alison Graham - HR Manager, Organisational Development 4.50 The task group was joined by the Head of Cumbria Care and an HR Manager to

examine the issues around the higher absence level for Cumbria Care of 13.56 days, against an overall context of 21.5 days absence for the Adult and Local Services directorate as a whole. The task group received a presentation that gave a breakdown of the absence levels in Cumbria Care of a total 82 people off in January 2012. This showed a variety of reasons for absences, including complaints such as asthma, bone-related complaints, back problems and stress.

4.51 The task group were advised that the absence rate had been reduced from 120 some

five years ago so it was travelling in the right direction. This is from a total workforce of 2,500 and an HR report is provided to the Head of Cumbria Care every month, collated by HR managers and line managers. Working in conjunction with HR colleagues has proved successful in closing down individual absence cases, with some 82 closed in 2011. The approach to managing absence includes managing staff back to health, going through re-deployment options, capability routes or ill health retirement. At April 2012 there are 76 absences currently open but where staff may succeed in closing 5 in one month, another 6 may come on-line the following month, so managing this process is on-going. Compared to other care organisations nationally, however, Cumbria Care has below average absence levels. Cumbria County Council is also one of the few organisations that still retain its care sector of this size in-house, so this also impacts on the figures.

4.52 The Head of Cumbria Care told the task group that there were issues with the current

Positive Attendance Policy and that there were improvements to be made to this 30-page policy document that set out 4 separate stages for managing and resolving persistent short-term absences, with some of these only being closed last year. In some cases, to get through all the stages has taken up to 3.5 years. It is apparent that there is confusion between the definition of short-term and long-term absence, with some managers having difficulty in determining what type of absence they are dealing with. There have also been some persistent long-term absences with individuals being off for a month at a time. Managing absence is a difficult job and, due to the current policies, it is easier to deal with long-term absence because it is a ‘softer’ policy.

4.53 The HR Manager informed the task group that the stages for dealing with patterns of

absence are based on specific ‘trigger’ points, which include 3 separate absences or one absence of 8 days; further trigger points result in a management interview and sanctions can be imposed. Further along, there is a hierarchy of verbal and written warnings, before a final written warning followed by dismissal.

4.54 For Cumbria Care sickness absence is a key performance indicator but the data from

the Midland Trent system is not available in the form that the department can use it, so absence data is collated in-house. Targets for reducing absence are set for each service area and there is a determination at a senior management level to tackle this. There is exceptional partnership working between the HR and Cumbria Care Management teams and the relationship between the service centre and Cumbria Care is reportedly good. The HR Manager noted that it is through regular meetings between HR and Cumbria Care senior managers that issues can be tackled; recently this has

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included fostering a more uniform practice to the completion of return to work forms by line managers and, in turn, ensuring that absences are closed on the Midland Trent system. Further, along with the HR Manager, there is a senior HR Manager and 3 other HR advisors in the directorate to support managers’ queries by ‘phone etc.

4.55 The task group was provided with some comparative absence figures, provided

recently by the CIPD* (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development) which gave 9.1 absence days per year, per FTE for public sector, 10.6 days for Health, 7.1 days for private sector and 11.9 days for non-profit care organisations. The question arises from this: what is it about care services that make employees more prone to sickness absence?

[* Annual Survey Report 2011 ‘Absence Management’] 4.56 There are a number of characteristics across the Cumbria Care workforce that

contributes to higher absence levels, relating to the following key elements:

• Geography and public sector;

• Gender;

• Age;

• Part-time working. The task group was provided with information pertaining to each of the above, in turn,

providing an overall picture of why absence is higher in Cumbria Care than other areas of the County Council. These are detailed in the paragraphs below.

4.57 In terms of health inequalities, the North West is one of the poorest areas of the

country, with general health poorer than elsewhere. This is partly due to levels of poverty, but also the damp climate, exacerbating as it does problems like asthma, arthritis and transferable diseases. In addition, absence rates are higher across the public sector than private. For Cumbria, there are higher levels of absence in the South Lakes and Furness area of the county than elsewhere.

4.58 Cumbria Care has a largely female workforce, with an average age profile of between

45-50 years old. With women generally still being primary carers for children, and the main carers for older relatives, there are higher absence levels, overall, across the female workforce than the male.

4.59 Overall then, there are a number of factors effecting the workforce, as well as

commonalities within the workforce that leads to a higher level of absence. Cumbria Care staff are regularly appraised of sickness levels and issues around absence for their department but it is important to note that, due to the type of work it is not possible for staff to report for work when they have sustained a physical injury. This would not be the case for office-based staff, for whom adjustments could be made to continue with their duties. Also, staff attending for work who have a transferable illness in the care sector is not encouraged due to the vulnerability of the client based and possible impact on their health.

4.60 The task group was advised that solo working is a significant factor, particularly for

staff in home-care services and asked how often staff are able to meet up with colleagues. Whilst residential care staff meet colleagues every day, in home care this might reduce to once a month or a fortnight, dependent on when team and staff meetings are held. For home-care workers there are a number of staff to one manager but there are staff meetings as well as ‘patch’ meetings (where staff working in the

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same area can meet with their manager). Staff may not always be able to attend these, due to work commitments and contracted days, however it is more likely to be 2 or 3 times a month on average when they can attend. It is a fact that, due to the nature of the work, home-care staff meet their managers on fewer occasions than those working in residential care.

4.61 The task group asked why Cumbria Care compiles their own absence figures, rather

than relying on those produced by the Midland Trent system. The Head of Cumbria Care reported that she is not provided with Trent data at present. For Cumbria Care there are a number of issues: electronic data systems such as Trent tend to be geared primarily towards full-time workers but care staff work over a 7-day period, with most staff working 3 or 4 days, which can be problematic when calculating what constitutes a full working week for staff who are on part-time contracts. The Head of Cumbria Care feels that, by collating figures in-house, she and her managers are reassured that the information from which they are working is uncomplicated and better able to reflect the working parameters of their staff more accurately.

4.62 From additional absence data presented, the task group was interested to find out why

there was an increase in absences towards the end of 2011. This was attributed to the implementation of single status, after September, with a specific increase for disability and mental health care workers, against the rest of Cumbria Care where absences had decreased over the same period. This is thought to be because it was precisely this group of workers who lost out under the new arrangements, whereas the terms and conditions for other workers improved through single status. This reflects bringing workers onto a level playing field, as the Cabinet Member had told the task group earlier, rather than one group of workers taking on worse conditions than another. For instance, disability and mental health care workers lost their premium pay for weekends and bank holidays, to bring them in line with other workers across the service.

4.63 The HR Manager reflected on how absence is handled in the HR team, with work

ongoing to support managers in their role, and particularly where there are long-term absences. Through the Positive Attendance Policy, managers are able to support employees at case conferences after an absence of 4 weeks or more, or a support interview if short term absences occur to determine how employees are being supported, whether there is a need to refer to Occupational Health, if counselling services are needed and so on.

4.64 The task group asked what the process was, step by step, for dealing with staff who

were absent. The Head of Cumbria Care outlined the steps that are taken: an employee ‘phones in sick (there are no problems with staff not doing this, but if absent without contact, this would be a disciplinary issue); on their return they would receive a return to work interview, which is where managers have the best chance to tackle any issues of persistent absence; staff can provide self-certificated absence for up to a week, but after this a certificate would be needed from their GP; if their absence is work-related, they would be referred to Occupational Health and this is the case for all cases of stress. As a matter of course, an employee off for a 4 week period would be referred to Occupational Health. All the steps taken are documented on an individual member of staff’s file, so the procedures are accurately recorded for future reference.

4.65 With regard to the input from Occupational Health, whereas they can help in identifying

where employees may require a change of duties, or return to work on the basis of ‘lighter’ duties, for Cumbria Care there are no ‘lighter duties’ by definition. The work is often heavy and stressful so it is more likely that someone deemed unable to return to this type of work goes down the redeployment route: however, the problem here is that

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individuals are skilled in care and this is where their professional experience and skill lies, so finding them office-based work may not always be possible and is not necessarily what they themselves would want.

Task Group Views 4.66 The task group undertook a brief discussion after the witness interview, assisted by the

Senior HR Manager, HR Advisor and Assistant Director, People Management to give them an opportunity to consider any key points emerging from the information provided. The Assistant Director reflected on the following points arising:

• the concerns around possible disparity between the data held on Trent and those collated at Cumbria Care; historically there has been some delay in return to work forms coming through from managers, so current absence data captured could be higher than the reality;

• investing in the Trent system has meant that the Council has dealt with a wealth of data from across the organisation that would not have been possible before;

• data irregularities continue to be an issue for the system, attributable to a complex series of factors; these are issues that could be tackled through the Better for HR project, as part of the wider Better for Business project.

4.67 The task group noted some supporting information, arising from the witness session

discussions:

• 3.4% of the Council’s employees have accessed the Employee Assistance Helpline;

• 252 counselling session have been arranged through EAP helpline;

• Positive Attendance Policy is triggered by 3 separate absences over a 12 month period, or a single absence of 8 days.

The task group considered the stages for employees showing patterns of absence that

require further enquiries by their line manager. Frequent absences would result in a first trigger point, with a support interview outlining expectations and providing advice. At this point that employee could be referred to Occupational Health if required. Further absence after this stage would be picked up by monitoring and would lead to a formal meeting within 14 days of the employee’s return to work. The option is available for the employer to remove the ability for the employee to self-certificate and can insist that certification is provided only by a GP. If absences continue, the employee could receive a formal verbal warning, a note of which would be kept on their personnel file for a period of 6 months, and would be subject to further monitoring. Further absences still could result in a formal written warning, up to a third and final written warning before the employer can consider terminating the employee’s contract. There are other available sanctions including withholding sickness pay and insisting on the redeployment route. The task group received a flowchart which detailed the stages open to the employer at each point.

4.68 The task group reviewed information looking at the Positive Attendance Policy

comparing Cumbria County Council with 6 other local authorities and the Cumbria Police Authority, Morrisons, Agilisys, Pennine Care NHS Trust, the BBC and Morecambe Bay Health Trust. This gave a comparative overview of the trigger points and stages used, definitions of short and long term absences and timelines for referrals to Occupational Health. This showed some strict practices, including Morrison’s allowance of 3 days absence over 3 months potentially leading to dismissal. There was a common practice in private sector of not paying statutory sick pay for the first 3

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days of absence. However, in comparing what Cumbria is doing against other local authorities, there is nothing radical being done on absence across the 6 authorities.

4.69 The task group heard that Cumbria County Council’s HR team were currently looking

at the Occupational Health referral form and how it might be tightened up to limit the reasons for referrals, which are currently wide, which could help to make the data captured more meaningful.

4.70 The task group was concerned about the disparity between the costs of absence to the

authority, found in the 2005 review work, and the figures quoted for 2012. One particular concern was the way that the current cost is calculated, based on an average wage of £16,800. Members questioned the accuracy of the figures provided.

Occupational Health Service – Morecambe Bay Health Trust 4.71 The task group received written responses to their questions for Occupational Health,

which were presented by the HR Manager. A witness had been invited to attend, but due to prior commitments was unable to meet the task group. The information provided to the task group is summarised below.

4.72 The Council runs an Alternative Employment Programme, which is known informally as

the redeployment register; there are currently 7 people on the programme as a result of Occupational Health assessments (out of 17 in all). Over the past 12 months, the Council has redeployed over 121 people but none to date as a result of an OH assessment.

4.73 Early intervention practices provided by OH nurses and practitioners, in relation to

common complaints including musculoskeletal problems, included immediate physio' treatment, support through the EAP, work stations assessment and support through the Council’s Wellbeing initiatives.

4.74 The task group had asked for a brief overview on the following procedures: ill health

retirement, phased return to work, redeployment register, fit for work, how OH links with local GPs. The responses provided on these are detailed below:

• ill health retirement requests are processed by OH in line with the Council’s guidelines and pensions scheme;

• phased return to work can be recommended by an OH practitioner and would be implemented through liaison between OH, an employee’s line manager and HR; it is usual for phased return to work to be provided over the course of a month;

• fit for work – the OH practitioner can advise on an employee’s fitness, or otherwise, to return to work and any adjustments needed; advice may also be taken from the employee’s GP if required;

• an OH practitioner can link with local GPs in seeking further information, or relevant reports to assist in supporting an individual.

4.75 The task group considered additional information on the OH contract, detailing the

duration and costs agreed with the authority. Over and above the fixed cost of £273k the additional charges (totalling £35k for last year) are for specialist services such as physiotherapy, counselling and specialist reports.

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5. Findings and Recommendations 5.1 The task group felt that the most critical aspect of managing staff absence and

wellbeing is that of cost versus return on investment for supporting staff. Whilst they appreciated that the current Occupational Health contract costs considerably less than the fixed costs associated with its previous contract provider (pre-February 2011) they felt that it is not clear what the authority receives for that flat rate of £273k.

5.2 The task group was concerned that the true cost to the authority of absences, per

annum, is not clear and depends on how the figure is calculated. Through the course of the review, members were provided with information that showed the average loss between £4.4m and £5.4m per annum, dependent on how the sum is calculated. The figure of £4.4m was calculated against a 13.05 days absence per 5,262 full time equivalents (FTE) with a median wage of £16,800. However, the figure of £5.4m was calculated against a 13.05 days absence per 5,262 full time equivalents, with a mean (average) wage of £20,422. So there is definitive figure currently used and the financial cost would not normally be used as a performance measure, rather the number of absences per full time equivalent.

5.3 Where there are persistent short-term, or longer-term absences, the task group voiced

concern at the impact on staff left behind, with the possibilities for work-related stress increased where there are fewer people to undertake the same level of work. This is primarily the case for those service areas that do not provide direct services (eg: care services, school meals etc.) and the task group would like to highlight the Council’s duty of care to its employees. The task group found that good absence management practices are imperative for ensuring that the majority of staff are not unfairly put-upon in covering for regular absences.

5.4 Following on from this then, a key question for authority must be how to achieve the

necessary consistency of approach across all directorates, departments and individual teams. Critically, a consistency of approach from line managers’ is needed, with a key consideration for them being what patterns of absence indicate and how they then go about addressing these.

5.5 An emerging area of concern for the task group was it was stated there is clear

evidence of ownership of absence management issues at appropriately senior levels in the authority, this needs to filter down to a line management level. This means that the practices in place for dealing with absences, including return to work interviews and providing these in a prompt manner to ensure that absences are closed on the Midland Trent system, are imperative to ensure absence figures are as accurate as possible. The task group believe that managers need to use the Midland Trent system to the fullest of its capabilities.

5.6 There are some concerns about how the system allows for different employee

contracts and the practice of recording absences over a 7-day period, for employees working Monday to Friday, part-time or over weekend periods.

5.7 The task group would like to highlight that the support for employees on short-term

contracts needs to be equitable with those on longer term (‘permanent’) contracts. 5.8 With the authority facing this time of austerity and considerable loss of budget from

central government and funding sources, resulting in restructures and in some cases rounds of voluntary redundancies, with the future possibility of some services reducing

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or closing altogether, in addressing issues around persistent absence there would be more funding available to support the provision of services overall.

5.9 There are a number of differences between the public and private sector conditions

around absence – of which the task group took an overview – with many external organisations very strict on the limited amount of absence that is allowed before disciplinary action is taken and, in some cases, contract of employment terminated. One of the reasons for the higher absence level in public sector must surely be the comparatively generous pay and conditions around absence. The task group would like to see the authority work towards bringing it in line with the national average for public sector; over the longer term, the task group would support the ambition to bring the authority’s absence rates in line with the national average for private sector.

5.10 There are a raft of policies covering HR in the Council, which cover a variety of

different circumstances and need:

o flexi time and annual leave schemes; o maternity and paternity schemes; o adoption leave; o attendance at work during adverse weather; o time off work for study or training; o special event guidance.

5.11 The task group asked whether absence directly related to disability and pregnancy is

collated separately from the Midland Trent system, which is current practice in some authorities. This means that the absence figures can reflect an accurate picture of sickness absence rather than that caused by such existing or extenuating factors including disability and pregnancy.

5.12 The task group feel that there were differences evidence between the views of HR and

directorate managers on the merit of the Midland Trent system. Addressing the concerns of directorates is important to ensure that the purpose procured system can be properly used and advantage can be taken of its capabilities. Part of this needs to be addressing the discrepancies between what constitutes a working week, per employee, with this being a key cause of distrust of the data produced by the system.

Recommendation 1 The task group recommend that Organisational Development examines how to embed positive attendance and wellbeing practices across the authority, to ensure that the Midland Trent system is properly updated so that the absence data is accurate. Rationale: the Corporate Management Team need to support the Directorate in this endeavour. Through the course of this review, it has become apparent to the task group that directorates do not trust the data contained in the Midland Trent system, due to issues around how the data is organised (ie: varying definitions of what constitutes a working week, dependent on type of work and contracted hours) and how quickly absences are closed, following an employee’s return to work. The task group is of the view that the Midland Trent system is not being properly used for the purposes it was bought in the first place.

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Recommendation 2 The task group challenge the authority to ensure that it has in place procedures and practices to support line managers in rigorously tackling patterns of absences and this needs to be applied consistently across all directorates, with directors and line managers taking ownership. Rationale: The task group feel that there is an issue with the consistency of practice across the authority and that line managers need to feel empowered to tackle obvious patterns of absence in immediate staff and encouraged to do so at the earliest possible stage, to ensure a more consistently prompt and timely approach to tackling absence. Recommendation 3 One suggested improvement for the Positive Attendance Policy was the way in which returns to work were recorded on the Midland Trent system and the fact that this was currently only possible through the submission of a completed return-to-work form, which meant some absences remained ‘open’ on the system after the employee had returned to work. Rationale: The task group feel there are a number of key areas where practice needs to tightened, because it may well be causing absence figures to appear higher than they actually are for the authority; one issue that came up time and again through the evidence gathering process was the way that absences record on the Trent Midland system can only currently be closed (showing the employee has returned to work) after a protracted process involving back to work interviews, completion and submission of appropriate form by line manager, followed by HR inputting the necessary information onto the system. It would be far quicker to have the line manager, or even employee, able to record their return to work immediately by accessing the system themselves. Recommendation 4 The task group recommends that a pilot exercise be undertaken in Cumbria Care to compare the data in Trent against the collated data in the department, to identify discrepencies. Rationale: The task group feel that there would be merit in determining what the differences are between data collated in-house and that produced by the Trent system, to identify what the apparent discrepancies are. Recommendation 5 (a) The task group recommends that corporate directors have targets specifically to reduce

absences to bring the authority in line with the national average for public sector. (b) All line managers be given targets for reducing absenteeism, within their own area of

responsibility.

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Rationale: the task group feel that there needs to be ownership of the issue of absenteeism across the authority, with the hierarchy of responsible persons playing their part in addressing the issue. This goes from Corporate Directors down to line manager level and requires that each directly tackle patterns of absence to ensure that these are kept to a minimum and staff are supported in their absences and in getting back to work. Recommendation 6 The authority should examine whether it would give more value to consider buying in Occupational Health services, on an ad hoc basis, rather than continuing with a contract where the flat rate cost is £273,000 per annum. Rationale: This would save the authority money. It currently pays £273k at a flat rate cost to the provider Morecambe Bay Trust, but incurs individual costs for services provided to employees, which totalled £35k for last year, including individual sessions of physiotherapy, counselling and the production of specialist reports. Recommendation 7 The Adult and Local Services Directorate are the focus of a sustained campaign to address the issue of absences, which are currently 21.4 days, against a public sector average of 8.1 days. Rationale: It is the view of the task group that, by addressing the directorate with the highest number of absences per Full Time Equivalent across the authority, this will bring down the overall average for the authority, in the longer term. Recommendation 8 The task group recommend that the Employee Assistance Helpline is revisited, to determine whether this is providing value for money for the authority. Rationale: the task group asked for information on take-up, but did not receive figures; although the flat rate paid for this service had reduced to £17k, to reflect a recent reduction in overall staff numbers, the task group was concerned as to what this was providing for the fees paid annually. Recommendation 9 The discrepancies within the Midland Trent system should be addressed, to reconcile those employees working over a 7-day period, those working over a 5-day period and those on part-time contracts. Rationale: The task group has found that this is one of the key issues for directorates compiling their own absence data and distrusting what the Midland Trent system provides. There are different working weeks depending on the nature of an employee’s work and their

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contract. So while office workers will typically work over a period of 5 days (Monday to Friday), care workers and others in front line services may work over 7 days (Sunday to Saturday). It is apparent that this is one of the main reasons for distrusting the data coming from the system and it needs to be addressed if the system is to be used properly. The Task Group would like to thank everyone who supported and contributed to the review.

Report ends.

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Bibliography ‘Healthy Returns?’ Absence and Workplace Health Survey 2011 – Confederation of

British Industry Report (CBI)/Pfizer Annual Survey Report 2011 – Absence Management – from the Chartered Institute of

Personnel and Development (CIPD)