Havering Council's sickness absence rate is among the worst in London, according to a recent report presented to the Overview & Scrutiny Board. The Sickness Absence Benchmarking Report revealed that the council's sickness absence rate of 10.8 days per employee (based on InfiniStats data for 23/24) is in the 4th quartile of all London boroughs, an 8% increase from the previous financial year.
The report compared Havering's data against other local authorities, highlighting the need for improvement. The report broke down the absence rate into short-term (2.9 days) and long-term (7.9 days) absences.
Stress, depression and mental health were identified as the leading causes of absence, accounting for 21.8% of sick days, with the majority being long-term absences. Musculoskeletal issues contributed to 15.7% of sick days.
To address the high sickness absence rate, the council is planning several measures, including:
- Policy Review: Simplifying the sickness absence policy and procedure documentation.
- Increased Manager Training: Providing new e-learning modules and drop-in surgery sessions for managers on handling sickness absence.
- Improved Sickness Reporting: Implementing a new automated absence alert system and exploring the use of AI tools, including a sickness absence AI agent to improve sickness reporting and monitoring. This tool will provide easy access to information and guide managers through the absence management process ensuring consistency, reducing administrative burden and enabling timely interventions.
- Additional Wellbeing Support: Engaging a new Occupational Health provider and implementing a comprehensive wellbeing program.
- Preventative Measures: Conducting focused analysis of high-absence departments and promoting open communication about health concerns.
The Wellbeing Offer Report detailed the council's wellbeing initiatives, including mental health support, fitness programs, and financial support.
Councillor Taylor asked if the council had conducted any study into whether there's a correlation between work from home policy and increased sickness levels, especially in muscular skeletal and mental health.
The council is also reviewing its working from home policies to see if they are contributing to the problem. DSE assessments have been carried out, and wellbeing check-ins are in place to pick up any correlations. Exit interviews are also being conducted to understand why staff are leaving, and the data is being categorized to identify trends.
Tara Nicholls mentioned that exit interviews are being conducted with staff to understand the reasons why they're leaving in the first place.
