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29/11/2012
NI Civil Service Misses Sickness Rates Target
The Northern Ireland Civil Service has missed its target for cutting sickness rates.
The thirtieth annual report from the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency showed 10.1 days on average were lost per year.
The figure shows a decline on 10.7 for 2010/11, but the number is still shy of the target of 10.0 days.
This amounts to 4.6% of working days lost across the board, or about £28.6m in lost production.
Absences ranged from 7.1 days in the Department of Health to 12.6 days in the Department of Justice.
Prison staff were absent for an average of 17.0 days, marking the biggest proportion of days lost in the Department of Justice.
The level of absence in general was highest in staff aged over 55 years of age. This amounted to 11.4 days while the lowest, 9.4 days, was among staff aged 16-24.
As in previous years, the report said the main reason for absence was “Anxiety/Stress/Depression/Other Psychiatric Illnesses”.
29.0% of working days were lost due to illnesses of this type. Around one quarter of this percentage was due to work related stress.
The report found that the high level of absence was due, in large part, "to a relatively small group of staff (10.4%) being absent from work on a long-term basis for an average of 58.6 working days".
This group of staff accounted for 71.3% of the total days lost.
The stats reveal women take more time off due to sickness than men.
Women took 11.9 days off compared to men’s 8.4 days, even when pregnancy related disorders were taken into account (10.5 days). Nevertheless, the absence level of women has reduced by almost one third over the last five years.
(IT/GK)
The thirtieth annual report from the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency showed 10.1 days on average were lost per year.
The figure shows a decline on 10.7 for 2010/11, but the number is still shy of the target of 10.0 days.
This amounts to 4.6% of working days lost across the board, or about £28.6m in lost production.
Absences ranged from 7.1 days in the Department of Health to 12.6 days in the Department of Justice.
Prison staff were absent for an average of 17.0 days, marking the biggest proportion of days lost in the Department of Justice.
The level of absence in general was highest in staff aged over 55 years of age. This amounted to 11.4 days while the lowest, 9.4 days, was among staff aged 16-24.
As in previous years, the report said the main reason for absence was “Anxiety/Stress/Depression/Other Psychiatric Illnesses”.
29.0% of working days were lost due to illnesses of this type. Around one quarter of this percentage was due to work related stress.
The report found that the high level of absence was due, in large part, "to a relatively small group of staff (10.4%) being absent from work on a long-term basis for an average of 58.6 working days".
This group of staff accounted for 71.3% of the total days lost.
The stats reveal women take more time off due to sickness than men.
Women took 11.9 days off compared to men’s 8.4 days, even when pregnancy related disorders were taken into account (10.5 days). Nevertheless, the absence level of women has reduced by almost one third over the last five years.
(IT/GK)
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