Sickness rates within Croydon's Housing Directorate have seen a significant reduction in long-term absences, with the number of employees off sick for over 100 days decreasing from 16 in January 2026 to just four by the end of May 2026. The current overall sickness rate for the directorate, as of 31st May 2026, stands at 20.2 days per employee per year on a twelve-month average. This figure is significantly higher than the London Council average of 9.6 days per employee per year and the Croydon Council average of 12.9 days per employee per year.
The Housing Assurance Board heard on Monday 13 July 2026 that while overall sickness rates remain higher than the London average, the focus has now shifted to addressing persistent short-term sickness, which is noted as being particularly disruptive to services. The project aims to empower managers to feel comfortable and confident in managing sickness absence effectively.
Carmel Howard, Sickness Specialist, presented the findings, highlighting that the absence management project has made amazing progress.
The project has implemented several strategies to achieve the reduction in long-term sickness absences. These include reviewing and improving manager training on absence management, covering soft skills, council policies, and Oracle training for accurate sickness recording. A new performance objective is being introduced for managers to ensure timely and accurate recording of sickness absence, which will be monitored through the performance appraisal process.
Further strategies employed by the project include streamlining current processes and practices to reduce the time taken to deal with individual absence management cases. The Bradford factor is being analysed to identify patterns in frequent short-term absences, potentially leading to review meetings and dismissals if no improvement is demonstrated. Managers dealing with complex cases are also receiving one-to-one support from HR. Data-driven monitoring is in place, with monthly reports highlighting managers not submitting sickness data promptly, regular audits of 'saved sickness,' and close monitoring of employees absent for over 20 days to identify return-to-work dates. For long-term sickness cases, return-to-work plans are being developed from the outset.
The persistent short-term sickness is considered extremely disruptive for the service,
potentially impacting service delivery and increasing pressure on existing staff. While the report details the reduction in long-term sickness, it does not explicitly list the primary reasons identified for the persistent short-term sickness. However, concerns around manager compliance,
specifically late reporting of sickness by some managers
and failing to close spells of sickness,
suggest that issues with management processes and the sustainability of frequent short-term absences are contributing factors.
The absence management project's approach is being reviewed by the Corporate Management Team (CMT) with the aim of supporting effective management of sickness across the entire council. This suggests that the project's successful strategies are intended to be extended to other directorates within Croydon Council.
More information can be found in the Public reports pack for the Housing Assurance Board meeting on 13 July 2026, and the Minutes of Previous Meeting.
