Angus Council is in the grip of spiralling sickness absence after staff were off for almost 50,000 days in just 12 months.
Freedom of Information data has revealed a 2023/24 figure which shows a dramatic rise in absenteeism since the pandemic.
And stress-related illness continues to account for more than a third of all absences.
Sick pay has totalled more than £27 million since 2019.
It comes after one councillor last year warned under-pressure workers could “only take so much”.
What does the sickness absence data reveal?
Statistics for the five years from 2019 show absence hit a peak of 40,443 sick days among local government employees in 2023/24.
That is the equivalent of more than 110 years of working time lost in 12 months.
The figure does not include 8,987 days teachers were absent.
The local government figure is a dramatic increase from a total of just over 29,000 lost days in 2021/22.
Those rates equate to average sickness rates of around 14 days and 7.5 days respectively.
However, Covid-19 absences were not included in the data for the period from 2020 to 2023.
What are the main causes of Angus Council absence?
Stress remains the highest cause of absenteeism, accounting for more than 37% of all lost days.
The figure is the highest since it topped more than 41% in 2020/21.
Musculoskeletal issues were behind 16% of absences.
Respiratory issues (8.5%), infectious diseases (7.1%) and gastroenterological problems (6.25%) were the other main contributors to the 2023/4 total.
Those follow roughly a similar pattern of previous years.
Although the second biggest absence reason of issues such as back pain has shown a steady decline over the past few years.
Sick pay has been more than £5m in each of the past three years.
It is part of a total sick pay figure of more than £27.5m since 2019.
Council action to tackle sickness absence
The council says it is making improvements to tackle the issue.
HR director Sharon Faulkner previously said a ‘fit for the future’ programme had been brought in.
“We are working on various themes about how we work with our workforce and make sure they area as fit and healthy – both psychologically and physically – as they can be,” she told councillors.
The FOI response added: “Our sickness reporting system is in the process of being digitised and the new reporting through MyView will start later this year,” said the FOI response.
“This will ensure more reliable live data to enable us to address any sickness absence issues and support staff appropriately.”
Last September, concern over the issue led one councillor to warn that staff can “only take so much”.
Arbroath member Lois Speed said high rates of staff sickness would impact colleagues – and the council’s ability to deliver frontline services.
“I have a concern for the workforce as a whole in terms of the amount of changes, reviews and uncertainty they continue to go through year on year,” she said.
“Everything has its place, whether that’s temporary staff, agile working or working from home.
“All of those flexibilities are great, but I’m hugely concerned the knock-on impact that has.”
Conversation