ARS Absence Reoport Q2 2023
Renfrewshire Council · 6 November 2023
Back to Audit, Risk and Scrutiny Board — 6 November 2023 and its agenda
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2 ___________________________________________________________________ To: Audit, Risk and Scrutiny Board On: 6 November 2023 ________________________________________________________________ Report by: Director of Finance and Resources ___________________________________________________________________ Heading: Absence Statistics – Quarter 2 of 23/24. ___________________________________________________________________ 1. Summary 1.1 The purpose of this report is to provide the Audit, Risk and Scrutiny Board with the absence information for the period 1 July to 30 September 2023. 1.2 Longer term absences continue to be impacted due to lengthier treatment and medical intervention waiting times. 1.3 The report details the absence statistics by service and by category of staff. The report provides information in relation to absence targets and how services have performed against them. An analysis of the reasons for absence has also been compiled and details are included within the report. 2. Recommendations 2.1 It is recommended that the Board notes the content of this report. _______________________________________________________________ 3. Background 3.1 The Scrutiny Board agreed that absence levels will be reported on a quarterly basis. It was agreed that the report will include the following information. relating to supporting attendance: - Absence statistics broken down by service and category of staff. Reasons for absence broken down by service and category of staff. Progress made by services in relation to their supporting attendance
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3 action plans. 4. Sickness absence statistics for quarter 2 - 1st July to 30 September 2023 overview. 4.1 The main presenting issues and their percentage of the overall presented absence figures for the period were: • Psychological (31.7%) • Muscoskeletal (22.5%) • Stomach/blood/bowel and metabolic disorders (15.2%) 4.2 A comparison of the council overall absence performance for the period is detailed in tables 1 and 2. In line with the reporting requirements for Scottish Councils, absence is expressed as a number of workdays lost per full time equivalent (FTE) employee. Table 1 Table 2 5.0 Sickness absence targets analysis for quarter 2. 5.1 The local government employee absence level of 3.4 days lost per FTE employee is 0.8 days above the council target of 2.60 days. 5.2 The teacher absence level of 0.96 days lost per FTE employee is 0.58 days below the council target of 1.54 days. Employee Group Quarter Ending September 22 Quarter Ending September 23 Variance +/- year on year Local Government 3.80 3.40 - 0.40 Teachers 0.80 0.96 + 0.16 Council Overall 3.02 2.77 - 0.25 Service Quarter Ending September 22 Quarter Ending September 23 Variance +/- year on year Chief Executives 1.0 1.9 + 0.9 Childrens Services 2.05 2.08 +0.03 Environment, Housing, and Infrastructure N/A 3.36 N/A Finance & Resource Services 2.43 2.07 - 0.36 Renfrewshire Health and Social Care Partnership 6.50 5.26 - 1.24 Council Overall 3.02 2.77 - 0.25 Council Overall Target 2.60 2.60 N/A
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4 5.3 The council has recorded an overall absence rate of 2.77 days lost per FTE employee, which is 0.17 days above the council target of 2.60 days. 6.0 Sickness absence support measures during quarter 2. 6.1 To support employees with psychological absences, the council provides a range of support services that employees can be referred to at an early stage for assistance, such as the council’s Occupational Health Service and the Time for Talking employee counselling service. 6.2 The Time for Talking (TFT) counselling service provides 24-hour confidential support to employees with a range of personal health and well-being issues. It operates a flexible approach to appointments offering telephone consultations in the early mornings or evenings as well as throughout the day. 6.3 56 new referrals were made and a total of 217 referrals offered during the reporting period. This generated an attendance rate of 83%. The main presenting issues are detailed below: Personal Stress/anxiety/depression Family Relationships Self-harm Anger Work & Personal Stress/anxiety/depression Retirement/Redundancy Work related. Role (the understanding of) Demands 6.4 Telephone consultations remain the most requested type of intervention, however more face to face appointments are being requested. During the reporting period TFT responded to 1 critical incident. 6.5 HR and OD are working with our mental health first aiders across the council to further strengthen the supports on offer to our staff. We are actively looking to deliver further mental health first aider courses throughout the year. 6.6 The Physiotherapy service supports employees with Muscoskeletal and Joint Disorder conditions through the council’s Occupational Health Service. The service has continued to be provided throughout the quarter using secure face to face appointments, video conferencing and telephone consultations. 6.7 The council’s usage of the Occupational Health Service (OHS) for quarter 2 was 1,054 appointments. OHS provides advice and guidance on the impact of ill health on work and what steps the council and/or the employee may make
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5 in order to secure a return to work. The main appointment types are detailed in the table below: Appointment referral type Number Main types of intervention Wellbeing 342 CBT/DBT/Physiotherapy. Management 532 Presenting health condition advice and guidance. Health surveillance 180 Audio/ Hand Arm vibration/vaccines. 6.8 We continue with our occupational health surveillance programme, offering audiometry, spirometry, hand arm vibration screening, and nightshift questionnaires. We have not reported new occupational diseases to the Health and Safety Executive. 7.0 Ongoing measures to support attendance at work. 7.1 A number of measures continue to be progressed to support attendance at work, and include (but not limited to) the following: - • We are continuing to develop, with the support of the corporate communications team and the Businessworld team, an engagement and training plan around the new policy and its application. • To link with the engagement plan, we are currently redesigning the current supporting absence training courses, ensuring managers are fully equipped to manage staff absence and take accountability for their absence status. • We continue to develop, with support of the Business World Team, a suite of appropriate reports to enable managers to analyse their absence data. This will also provide an opportunity to increase the frequency of reporting sickness absence information to the Corporate Management Team. • Throughout the reporting period, HR and OD have been working with service management teams to focus upon the absence data and look at interventions to support their staff. The biggest focus has been on the reduction of longer- term cases. • In collaboration with the communications and marketing service, regular information and guidance continues to be issued, particularly around well- being issues. • We continue to link the supporting attendance measures to our Health and Wellbeing Strategy development, which supports the People strategy. • As part of the council’s health and safety management system, risk assessments are reviewed on an ongoing basis to ensure that safe working practices are maintained, reducing the opportunity for ill health or injury. • We work in collaboration with NHS colleagues, to offer safeTalk and ASIST courses on suicide awareness and prevention as well as anxiety awareness courses. We also promote the “Doing Well” service which supports employees with depression and low moods.
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6 • We continue to promote the employee benefits scheme. • We promote our supporting polices such as menopause, pregnancy loss, control of smoking and carers. __________________________________________________________ Implications of this Report 1 Financial Implications - Improvement in attendance impacts on the financial costs of absence. 2 HR and Organisational Development Implications - HR and Organisational Development Practitioners will continue to work with service managers and consult with the Trade Unions, on the implementation of the Supporting Attendance at Work Policy and Guidance and initiatives detailed in this report. 3 Community Planning Children and Young People - none. Jobs and the Economy - none. Community care, health, and wellbeing - provides for continuous improvement in health and attendance. Safer and Stronger - provides for improved service performance across the Council. Greener - none. Empowering our communities - none. 4 Legal Implications - ensures legal compliance with health and safety and equality legislation. 5 Property/Asset Implications - none. 6 Information Technology Implications - none. 7 Equality and Human Rights Implications - none. 8 Health and Safety Implications - it is integral to the Council’s aim of securing the health and well-being of employees. 9 Procurement Implications - none. 10 Risk Implications - Without continued effective supporting attendance focus, there is a risk that sickness absence levels will adversely impact on the Council both financially and in terms of service delivery. Consequently, supporting attendance activities are monitored via the Corporate Risk Register. 11 Privacy Impact Implications - none. 12. Cosla Policy Position – none
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7 13. Climate Risk - none _________________________________________________________________________ List of Background Papers - none. Author: Steven Fanning, Principal HR, and OD Adviser, Finance and Resources, telephone 07747790211 e-mail steven.fanning@renfrewshire.gov.uk.
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