| Title:
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REPORT ON MANAGING SICKNESS ABSENCE IN THE NORTHERN IRELAND CIVIL SERVICE
TOGETHER WITH THE MINUTES OF PROCEEDINGS OF THE COMMITTEE RELATING TO THE REPORT AND THE MINUTES OF EVIDENCE SEVENTEENTH REPORT SESSION 2007/2008 |
| By: |
Northern Ireland: Northern Ireland Assembly: Public Accounts Committee |
| Format: |
Paperback |
| List price:
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£11.50 |
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| ISBN 10: |
0339602422 |
| ISBN 13: |
9780339602427 |
| Publisher: |
STATIONERY OFFICE, BELFAST |
| Pub. date: |
4 September, 2008 |
| Series: |
Northern Ireland Assembly Reports Session 2007-2008, 38/07/08R |
| Pages: |
65 |
| Synopsis: |
This report follows on from an NIAO report, (NIA 132/07-08, ISBN 9780337090097) on the same topic, published in May 2008. Civil Service sickness absence levels in Northern Ireland are around 36 per cent higher than in Great Britain (GB) and are costing the NICS more than GBP 25 million a year in direct salary costs. The NICS has set a target to reduce absence to an average of 9.5 days per employee by 2010. However action taken to date has not delivered levels of the order necessary to meet this target and absence is currently 12.7 days per employee. Some degree of absence is inevitable and it is accepted that when employees are sick they should not come to work. Effective management can, however, help to minimise absence by ensuring that any causes of work-related ill-health are addressed and that staff are helped back to work as soon as possible.The report sets out 15 recommendations, including: it is important that DFP addresses the C & AG's report in a comprehensive and timely manner; the Committee recommends that consideration should now be given to setting targets beyond the current 2010 cut off date; that all departments and major agencies produce absence reduction plans; that all departments should designate a senior official with responsibility for absence reduction; that DFP closely monitors departmental performance in this area and sets challenging targets which will achieve a reduction of average referral times in the short to medium term; and, that efforts are concentrated specifically on how female absence is managed in an area or areas where it is highest, with a view to identifying practical lessons for improvement which can then be rolled out on a wider basis.It also recommends that departments benchmark both performance and processes with larger scale private sector organisations, with a view to establishing the scope for further reductions beyond the current 2010 date. |
| Publication: |
UK |
| Imprint: |
Stationery Office, Belfast |
| Returns: |
Non-returnable |