Public sector sickness costs taxpayer over £6m.in one year
Wednesday 20th October 2010, 1:00PM BST.
MORE than £6m. a year is spent by the States covering the cost of public sector sickness.
Human resources and organisational development head Simon Elliott (pictured) said initial data for 2009 indicated that around 5% of available working days were lost to sickness absence.
Estimating how much it cost was difficult, he said, due to variations in pay among employee groups, but the 2006 National Audit Office report had given a crude estimate of £6.1m.
Applying inflation to that figure brings it to around £6.6m.
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So about 1 day off per month / 12 per year.
UK public sector workers are having about 8.3 off per year
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10253034
So, about 50% more sickness in Guernsey public sector workers than UK.
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12 days off per year per employee???
I’ve just had a look at our time records at work and the average time off sick is 2.25 per year per employee.
Civil Servants must be a very sickly bunch, perhaps it’s all the stress they have to cope with?
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A bunch of skivers, just as I’ve always suspected.
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More States of Guernsey waste.
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It’s the stress of just sitting around all day hoping they won’t be doing anything to strenuous.
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do bear in mind that it is hard to compare public to private sector sickness rates directly.
The public sector includes all emergency service personnel as well as groups like operating theatre staff, where standards of fitness to work differ from the norm.
Fancy being operated on by a surgeon with a chesty cough or an eye infection? Thought not.
Similarly, I can still come to work and do paperwork if I have a bit of a bad back. But if I were a paramedic, I probably couldn’t.
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You will be a civil servant then James LOL. Self protective jokers the lot of them. Pathetic.
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I agree with Phil, an average of 12 days per annum is exceptionally high. Alarm bells should be well and truly ringing in their HR department.
In regard to James’ point there are also many private sector jobs where standards of fitness differ from the norm: doctors and labourers for example….and who would want to be served at a restaurant by someone with a cold?
Still, he does have a point so perhaps a breakdown per department would make more interesting reading?
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The warning bells may be ringing but I doubt if there is anybody to hear them – this being POETS day!
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No excuses really. I normally have a great deal of sympathy with the public sector, but on this issue they fall far far short of what is acceptable. Check this out:
http://www.hrmagazine.co.uk/news/1008189/UK-workers-took-180-million-sick-days-last-year-costing-economy-25-billion/
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Although not in the Custard Castle myself, I can see James’ point. Having a meal served by a waiter with a cold is not quite the same as having ones innards exposed during an op with a surgeon coughing into it. Or an ear infection. OK, so a waiter might lose a bit of balance and drop a wine on you, but a surgeon effected might slice off something you need!
And what about all those workers who do manual work in the States?
And… have you ever thought that, given that 1 in 4 of us are stressed (apparently) that civil servants who are trying their best but keep getting hammered by the ridiculous “I pay your wages” brigade might suffer a bit more than others?
If you’re wondering, yes, OK, my mum was a CS and she worked damn hard always bringing work home with her to do.
Minger, if anyone’s pathetic….
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I’m with James on this one. I don’t think this is just a case of lazy workers. I have a friend who is employed as a nurse. If he gets ill he must stay at home to avoid infecting patients. He may very well be OK to work, but those are the rules.
As Pail Le P. points out, a breakdown of department would be useful. Certainly if these number can be attributed to office workers (for example)then we need to criticize.
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Here is a report that NHS staff in the UK take 1.5 times the sick days of private sector workers.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2009/aug/19/nhs-staff-sickness-rates
Given the report posted by Truth Man suggests overall staff sickness in the UK is 6.3 days and NHS staff are included in this figure (the UK’s biggest employer by far) then we still have no real explanation for so many days being taken here do we?
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Minger says “You will be a civil servant then James LOL. Self protective jokers the lot of them. Pathetic”
Coming up with a point to consider in the debate about comparing the public and private sectors doesn’t of necessity make me either a civil servant or a ‘pathetic self-protective joker’.
Though perhaps having nothing to say or contribute on this forum but sling personal insults around does…
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Hello: “… we still have no real explanation for so many days being taken here do we?”
Yes, we do – they are skivers. Why else do they take twice as many ‘sickies’ as their skiving counterparts in the UK? Once again, the states demonstrates how badly it manages as the island’s largest employer. Maybe they are all way too secure, outsourcing anyone?
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lies, damn lies and statistics! Lumped in with sickness is also maternity leave, paternity leave, compassionate leave and unpaid sabbaticals. I also think that the data should be published accurately – e.g. how many of the ‘days’ are actually part of a public sector worker’s long term sick leave. If someone has to wait for an operation (as they do not have private insurance so cannot queue jump) they may have to wait several months before treatment and then they have recovery time. Private sector workers can get private healthcare almost immediately. How many episodes are there of just a few days? How many episodes are single days taken on a regular basis – that is something that HR are trying to stop and quite right too.
I happen to know that the much hailed Bradford Factor which is being introduced has not thus far made much difference to the levels of sickness. There will always be those who take sick days because they just want a day off but the Bradford scheme actually encourages staff to take a longer period off as having 1 or 2 short term sickness episodes results in more points than having 3-6 months off in one go! It does not encourage staff to go back to work early. If staff are made to go to the GP for a medical certificate ( which apparently is being asked for if someone has a chronic illness or their sickness record is high) this is going to cost them money, so they are going to ask for a longer medical certificate and they seem to be easy enough to get! Most people work hard and do not abuse the system. I am sure that some private sector workers have just as high a sickness rate – depends whether they get paid i guess!
Stop all this public sector bashing – staff morale is already at an all time low. The massive cuts in spending are not to be had because, despite the majority of writers on this site believing that the public sector is overstaffed and underworked, it is completely the opposite. When your services start suffering you will realise. Apparently the hospital is shutting wards now according to the BBC radio Guernsey ‘phone-in yesterday – what is all that about? Is it about saving money and not employing enough staff or is it that staff are leaving and the island is not able to recruit? The police, ambulance, teachers etc are probably in the same position along with other public sector workers. You want your parks and gardens to be looked after, the roads swept, the bins emptied, the hospital cleaned, the tax collected, the benefits paid etc. These are all public sector workers – not simply those who are perceived to be sitting behind a desk earning a ‘gold plated pension’!
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Skivers!!! I can’t believe Beanjar has said that. His sweeping statement obviously includes the nursing staff, police etc.. Nurses are exposed to all sorts of infections on a regular basis, and, despite rigorous hand-washing etc..still fall victim to stomach bugs and flu bugs regularly. And, the strenous nature of the work, coupled with often uncooperative patients, mean they are more at risk of physical injuries. Finally, would you like to be looked after by a nurse who is coughing and spluttering, or has to keep dashing to the loo?? No, i didn’t think so. From my experience, it is young people in the finance industry who are always off sick – usually with a hangover.
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Perhaps they should consider giving up their stressful, high pressure life in the Guernsey’s public sector if its making them spend a day every month “coughing and spluttering … dashing to the loo”. Or are you seriously suggesting that Guernsey generally has twice as much sickness as the UK? Skivers!
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Molly: “…majority of writers on this site believing that the public sector is overstaffed and underworked, … When your services start suffering you will realise…”
Actually, if your job is ever privatised YOU will realise. Those in the public sector often have no idea what life is like in the real world until it is too late. Ask people in the UK if their jobs have got easier when their department has been turned into a bought-in service from a private contractor. No ‘sick day’ every month then or they simply get the push. In fact a lot of them get made redundant immediately because, yes, they are overstaffed.
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What we can’t see (and I suspect is a part of the issue) will be perhaps a handful of individuals that are on long term leave bumping up the average.
Of course there will be those that make the most of being off ill (same as in private sector) but these days you go into your GP with a cold and you’re signed off for a week. Couple of times a year and there you have it!!
Short of giving people daily checkups and a lie detector test I can’t see this pattern changing unless internal policies change.
The policy at my wife’s work (private health services) all staff are allowed a maximum of 10 sick days a year before their pay is reduced.
Amazing how few days off they have (and are surrounded by sick people all the time!!)
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Molly refers to the “Bradford Factor” which is points based system for assessing sickness records. I worked in London Underground when this was brought in and I felt it had the effect of encouraging people to take more days off initially but over time it did appear to reduce spurious sickness and Monday Malaise to a degree.
The best solution is probably to offer sick pay at 70% of the normal daily rate.
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Beanjar:
Have you ever worked in the public sector?
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Skivers? Taking sickies? OMG! I have worked in both the private and public sector and in my opinion sick levels don’t seem to be much different in either one.I know people who worked in banks that were part of the ‘monday club’ and most of my colleagues now have not taken the so called average sickness days. what exactly is it about the private sector that makes it more ‘real world’ beanjar? you seem to be out to insult a lot of people – I very much doubt you have ever set foot in a states office because you have absolutely no idea how they operate. Mollys right that comments like yours do not help an already low morale. people are attacking civil servants left right and centre – apparantly some people have nothing better to do than condemn every one they might possibly need…
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Molly your comments on the Bradford factor are rubbish.
However my experience of trying to control sickness absence is this, 80% of absence due to sickness will always come from 20% of your staff. Further you can do what you want to try and control absence but staff will still take time off if they wish and for whatever reason. You are able to dismiss staff for high levels of absence no matter how many sicknotes they may have (you had better do it by the book though) but even this will have no effect on the other staff who may want time off.Fact is if people are paid to be off work sick they will take as much time off as they wish no matter where they work.
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I worked for the States for many years and we had our sicknotes taking days off every so often. My wife who worked in the private sector said it was just the same in her office with the same ones playing the system.
I’ve had most of the comments in this post about Public Sector Workers made to my face at various times by people who think they know it all but actualy know nothing.
The last thing they want is the facts getting in the way of their prejudiced opinions, but then if they did they’d have to give up their favourite hobby of States Worker bashing.
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The employees who tend to be taking advantage of companies sick leave are the ones who are off for shorter periods of time and more frequently. These types of absences are the ones which are costing businesses more money rather than the long term sick’s (surprisingly) therefore the Bradford Factor is very efficient with monitoring them. Use in conjunction with an absence management policy and you will soon find that either employee’s sickness will miraculously improve or they’ll go elsewhere either voluntarily or otherwise.
There will of course always be people taking advantage, however, companies don’t need to stick their head in the sand and worry that they can’t deal with their employee’s absences. There seems to be this misconception that if you’re on a sick note then God will strike down the boss who dares to question their employee’s absence record. It’s quite a simple process as long as companies are fair and consistent. And yes. Employers CAN manage their employee’s absence levels (through disciplinaires if necessary) if they are on a sick note.
Not sure where the average of 12 days comes from perhaps he wants to define ‘average’? I agree that longer periods of absences tend to be pushing that figure up but I did a similar report about 3 years ago which saw the average being between 2-3 days.
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