The total number of lost man hours, by Department, as the result of all sickness absence for the years 2004 to 2008 inclusive

1240/5(4792)

WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE CHIEF MINISTER

BY THE CONNÉTABLE OF ST. LAWRENCE ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON TUESDAY 6th OCTOBER 2009

Question

"Would the Chief Minister advise the Assembly of the total number of lost man hours, by Department, as the result of all sickness absence (to include self certification, if and where applicable, of less than three days) for the years 2004 to 2008 inclusive.

In each case, please identify:

1. the numberofmanhours lost per employee group;
2. the total (actual) financial cost per Departmenttocover all paymentsforeverysickness absence (including any self certification of less than threedays);
3. the total (actual) financial cost perDepartment of overtime paid ortemporary staff employed to coverthoseemployeeswithcontinuous sickness absence ofmore than 12weeks?"

Answer

Unfortunately, the department only has up to date information for 2008 onwards. From 2004 until October 2007 (the implementation date for HRIS) data was held on many separate systems. From October 2007, HRIS was populated with sickness absence data and the first full year of data was therefore 2008, however we have been able to produce sickness data for the periods 1st July 2007 – 30th June 2008 and 1st July 2008 – 30th June 2009 as shown below.

Question

In each case, please identify:

1. the numberofmanhours lost per employee group:

Answer

In total:

1st July 07 – 30th June 08 = 390,807 hours lost 1st July 08 – 30th June 09 = 397,047 hours lost

States of Jersey

Sickness Absence Reporting by Department From Date 01/07/07 To 30/06/08

Core

Actual Total Total % Sick

FTE Sick Sickness Rate Average

Sick 30/06/2009 Hours Days Days

  States States of

Jersey

Sickness Absence Reporting by Department From Date 01/07/08 To 30/06/09

  Core Actual Total Sick Total % Sick Average

FTE Sickness Rate

30/06/2009 Hours Days  Sick Days

Jersey Car Parks 21.0 2792.4 367.8 7.7 17.5 Jersey Fleet Management 23.0 1287.1 169.4 3.2 7.4 Treasury and Resources 235.6 11078.4 1497.1 2.8 6.4 States Assembly 30.8 1114.5 150.6 2.2 4.9 Non Ministerial States 164.4 8032.0 1085.3 2.9 6.6 Funded

Non Min SFB-Overseas Aid 1.4 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 Grand Total 6206.3 397047.5 54160.5 3.9 8.7

SOJ Sickness Absence Data

01 July 07 - 30 June 08 01 July 08 - 30 June 09 Public Sector Total absence for all SOJ Paygroups including the groups listed below

3.9% 8.7 3.9% 8.7

Uniformed services figures

Prison 5.7% 12.9 3.0% 7.0 Police 3.6% 8.1 3.8% 8.6 Fire 3.4% 5.9 3.3% 5.8

Average 4.2% 9.0 3.4% 7.1 Other main groups

Manual workers 5.9% 13.4 5.6% 12.6 Civil Servants 3.1% 7.0 3.2% 7.2 Teachers 3.2% 6.3 3.4% 6.7 Average 4.1% 8.9 4.0% 8.8

Benchmark data

Question

2. the  total  (actual) financial  cost  per Department to  cover all  payments  for  every sickness absence (including any self certification of less than threedays);

Answer:

The department does not have the information available in the format requested. As there are numerous pay  groups  with  many  different  grades  within  each  pay  group,  the  system  does  not  directly  cost certificated sickness against individuals pay. To provide accurate costs for sickness would require manual intervention and a separate calculation made against every employee. If the Connetable specifically requires this information, it can be produced but it will require several days work for the HR and Payroll staff to perform the calculations.

Question

3. the total (actual) financial cost perDepartmentof overtime paid ortemporarystaff employed to cover those employees with continuous sickness absence of more than 12weeks?"

Answer:

The information requested is not available without an individual review of every employee who has been off work for more than 12 weeks. This would be a significant piece of work and very time consuming.

I would like to invite the Connétable of St Lawrence to meet with HR staff to understand how sickness absence is currently managed throughout the States and seek to address any remaining issues that lie behind the question. Absence data needs to be seen in context. The fact that the States computer system does not make it easy to obtain states-wide reports does not mean that the issue of capturing absence data and more importantly, managing the people is not being done appropriately. Both the HR team and departmental management actively manage sickness throughout the States. We are aware that stated levels of absence are considered high but in overall comparison are slightly better than the UK Public Sector. It is recognised that there is still room for improvement and we are trying to reduce absence wherever possible for example, the States of Jersey operates a partial return to work scheme. This scheme enables an employee to safely return to work earlier than otherwise expected on a rehabilitation basis and under the guidance of the Occupational Health Department.