According to a recent article in the Scottish Sun, the Conservatives in Scotland are attacking Scotland's public sector "sick-note" culture - and using a new hotline to cure it. Figures released by the party showed Scots councils' staff were off ill up to three weeks a year on average.
Scottish Tory Finance spokesman Derek Brownlee said the scheme - currently on trial in the NHS in England - would drastically reduce absences.
Under it, workers would call a central hotline staffed by health workers instead of phoning the office. And he said a reduction of just a day for each staff member would save £69 million a year.
The newspaper writes that compares with just six days off sick for staff in the private sector and a reduction of just a day for each staff member would save £69 million a year.
Council sickness rates go from an average 5.7 days a year in Dumfries and Galloway to 14.5 days in Stirling. For teaching staff, absence is 4.4 days a year in Fife to 9.4 days in East Ayrshire. Government staff claim 7.7 days off annually and for the NHS it's 10.9 days.
It is important to take a step back and ask oneself the facts about sickness management in the local authorities and beyond.
1. There is fundamental difficulty in quantifying the level of absence in the public sector. Surveys persistently provide contradictory data. Looking at a comparison of the public and private sectors from 2008, the Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development’s (CIPD) employer survey records sickness absence rates as 4.3 per cent in the public sector, compared to 2.8 per cent in private sector services; IRS employer survey results suggest the gap for the two groups is much closer at 3.8 per cent and 3.1 per cent respectively.
2. It is clear that there is a private sector/public sector gap. This does appear to be the one compelling fact with the public sector having a worse problem than the private sector. There are a number of reasons whuy this is this is the case with size of organisations playing a factor and lack of quantification of data of sickness. Historically the non for profit sector has not been as targeted on sickness as private sector counterparts. This means that sickness absence is a big issue for the public sector whether they like it or not. This is why the government is desperate to do something to cut sickness absence down.
3. There is no silver bullet solution. The successful attempts to reduce sickness absence in the public sector use a blended approach. These can include: having consistent support from senior managers, sound policies and procedures, good record-keeping systems, methods of monitoring and investigating absences, and the active involvement of line managers in making everything work effectively.
4. The key is in the management training and mediation. Management Training is needed to handle staff who are off sick together with use of employment mediation for those staff who are off long term sick to try to get them back to work or to negotiate exit terms. These represent cost effective solutions which do work. This hotline will not save £69 million, though I would love to be wrong.
Justin Patten, Employment Mediator and Trainer