Angus Council chiefs are to begin six-monthly reporting of staff sickness to get a tighter grip on spiralling absence.
New figures have revealed the authority lost almost 50,000 working days in one year.
It is part of an upward trend which has is costing more than £5 million annually in sick pay.
Stress related illness remains the biggest contributor, accounting for more than a third of all absences.
The statistics emerged through a Freedom of Information response.
New reporting measures about to be introduced were also revealed in the response.
Councillors previously received quarterly reports on sickness absence. Those ended some years ago.
Since then, staff absence has been reported annually as part of the workforce plan update.
Upgrades to council HR system
The FOI response revealed a return to six-monthly reporting will begin this year.
The council said: “We have spent a considerable period of time improving our workforce data on our HR/payroll system in order that we can provide all services with up-to-date workforce data and analysis to allow them to manage their employees most effectively.
“This includes sickness absence data.
“Our sickness reporting system is in the process of being digitised and the new reporting through MyView will start later this year.
“This will ensure more reliable live data to enable us to address any sickness absence issues and support staff appropriately.”
This will allow the council to provide update reports to the corporate leadership team, service leaders and the policy and resources committee.
The FOI response added: “We intend to start reporting to policy and resources committee twice a year starting in May 2025.
“Annual sickness absence data has been reported to scrutiny and audit as part of reporting on the Local Government Benchmarking Framework (LGBF), which shows sickness absence data for the whole workforce, local government employee workforce and teaching staff separately.”
Staff facing ‘pressured environment’
Arbroath councillor Lois Speed said: “Staff absence continues to be a major concern.
“With growing need and demand on services, the workforce continues to struggle with diminishing resources.
“This makes it a very pressured environment.
“Staff are faced with the often impossible task of trying to do more with less.”
The Arbroath East and Lunan member added: “Health and wellbeing is paramount.
“We need to have the right supports in place; staff need to feel cared for and valued to help ensure their safe return to work.
“Our communities need to be at the heart of what we do.
“By supporting employees we can help ensure the continued delivery of essential services our communities rely on and desperately need.
“I welcome more frequent reporting.
“This is an area I will be keeping a close eye on.”
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