News: Performance Management
Absence issues: Government 'sickie' numbers unveiled
07 August 2008
Work and pensions officials claim they are "taking steps" to reduce employee absences and improve support for workers, after it emerged that one million sick days were taken in the department last year.
The Daily Mail reveals that 'sickies' cost the department £65.8 million in the 2007-2008 period, with an average of 10.1 annual sick days taken by its 114,000 staff.
According to the publication, the transport department's 19,000 employees took an average of 10.8 days.
"These are staggering figures. And what is even more shocking is that some departments don't even know how much they give out in sick pay every year," shadow work and pensions secretary Chris Grayling remarked to the publication.
A spokesperson for work and pensions countered: "We have reduced the amount of time lost to staff sickness by more than a day, on average, per member of staff over the past year and are taking steps to reduce it further by addressing the underlying causes of absence and improving support for employees."
Work and pensions secretary James Purnell issued a shake-up of the welfare system just last week, centring on getting the ill off benefits and back into work.
