Agenda item

Report of the Divisional Director Human Resources and Shared Services.

The Sub-Committee received a report from the Divisional Director of HRD and Shared Services on the latest staff survey and sickness absence monitoring results and action plan.

Members received a brief overview of the staff survey and agreed that discussion on the detail take place at the Scrutiny Leads meeting.  The officer undertook to circulate colour copies of the diagrams contained in the report to members of the Sub-Committee and Scrutiny Leads.

It was noted that the survey took place every two years with a ‘light touch’ survey in between.  In response to a question as to whether sufficient support had been available to the Children and Families Group to finalise their plan to respond to staff feedback, it was reported that good support had been received and the action plan had been concluded.  With regard to questions as to a lack of progress in undertaking appraisals in some areas, it was noted that, whilst there were no specific penalties, 100% compliance was sought and measured by line management.  Support was provided to those being appraised to address workload problems or performance measures taken where appropriate.  The officer estimated that 85% appraisals had been undertaken, the aim being 90%.

 A Member asked whether the feedback had shown a significant impact on protected groups.  The officer advised that there were differences in responses from some groups and there were lower levels of satisfaction from staff with disabilities and some BAME groups, who were also proportionally less represented at senior levels.  The officers examined service areas to drill deeper in order to identify issues and take action.

The Sub-Committee discussed the sickness absence and the following questions were asked by Members and responded to:

Q -       Does the frequency of sickness absence of manual workers increase with age?

A -       Harrow Council had an aging manual workforce and although sickness absence was not reported by age, it was known that chronic illness and disability increased with age.  This was potentially a factor in the Council’s relatively high levels of sickness which was exacerbated by the withdrawal of a normal retirement age and a sick pay scheme with relatively long term benefits.  Long term absence constituted approximately 60% of the sickness absence across the Council.  Occupational Health referrals for muscular skeletal problems were relatively high and referrals for mental health relatively low.

Q -       Is there an analysis with private sector comparables?

A -       Detailed comparisons are not undertaken, only headline figures.

In response to a suggestion that the data on sickness absence distribution from 1 October 2013 be differentiated between long and short term absence in order to focus on the short term to show percentages for each day to highlight problem areas, the Portfolio Holder for Performance, Corporate Resources & Policy Development stated that the sickness absence distribution information in the report was historical data.  He commented that the return to work interviews were designed to identify patterns of absence and it was important that the processes were undertaken correctly, for example, if an employee was absent on Wednesdays the line manager should pursue it.  Absence statistics were monitored quarterly thorough improvement boards. 60% of the cost was medical severance, with the withdrawal of the retirement age there was a tendency to wait to be retired on medical grounds. A member suggested that the average number of staff off sick by weekday graph should be used to check if procedures were undertaken correctly.

Q -       Do the action plans address the problems?

A -       The SAP system provides individual detail for managers to manage absence and provides teams and directorates with the bigger picture to identify where closer examination was required.  Individual details was not reported at the higher level as it was for managers to monitor and manage individual employee absence.  Analysis did not take into account leave as this was not recorded in SAP.

Q -       Sickness by calendar day of just under 5% affected service and was higher than private companies.  The Chair referred to the sum of £2.5m for sickness absence in 2013/14.

A -       The action plans in the report indicated how Directorates were dealing with information.  Council wide triggers had been agreed for short term sickness and as a prompt for management to make a decision.  There was an option to reduce the triggers or introduce formal capability action earlier in the procedural approach.  However this would potentially affect staff morale and bring Harrow into conflict with the Trades Unions.  The Unions at national level had made it clear that they would not support any change to the national sick pay scheme

Q -       Should we tighten up on sick pay?

A -       The Portfolio Holder forPerformance, Corporate Resources & Policy stated that he did not think that there should be a change in  the sick pay scheme and that not to pay for first day of sickness absence caused complications to manage.

Q -       8.5 days sickness absence in an office environment was high?

A -       It was agree that it was high but that addressing short term sickness should be managed by the directorate.

Q -       Has the opportunity been taken to work with the Fit for Work Service with regard to mental illness.

A -       The officer advised that as and when the Scheme was launched the Council would consider accessing the scheme which was free and would work in conjunction with GPs.

Q -       Were there any incentives to manage sickness?

A -       A trial of  additional leave for good attendance was undertaken but the impact was short lived.  Management needed support in making hard decisions.  The Council considered the circumstances for paying for medical certificates, the cost of which could be waived.

Q -       Is CBT provided?

A -       An employee assistance programme provided up to 6 free counselling sessions and 3 CBT.

Q -       In occupations with high stress levels, would it be appropriate to break up the five day week, for example social workers?

A -       The Council was promoting remote and mobile working, for example to enable caring responsibilities.  The professional view was that there were benefits to maintaining the same social worker for a case but we would consider flexibility around that.

The Chairman stated that the Members would continue to monitor sickness absence, particularly through the Watch List and Scrutiny Leads.  Officers undertook to ensure that the appropriate plans were made available to the Scrutiny Leads.

RESOLVED:  That the report be noted.