Stress continues to take its toll on Angus Council finances

Stress is continuing to take its toll on Angus Council staff as the largest single cause of absence from work.

The authority’s sick pay bill topped £3.7million last year as absence rates increased 4.3%.

The statistics equate to an average of 9.1 days lost for every employee.

Over 40% of absences are for periods of two to five days, with just under 10% being over 20 days.

Officials have warned that staff sickness is taking its toll on service delivery and council chiefs say the issue is being tackled “sympathetically but robustly” in an effort to reduce absence rates.

For more on this story see Thursday’s Angus Courier.