Issue - items at meetings - Attendance Management Procedure

Report of the Strategic Director, Resources (copy attached).

RESOLVED –

(1)         That the Committee approves the new Attendance Management Procedure.

(2)         That the impact of the new procedure be monitored and a report be presented to the Governance Committee six months after implementation and a report be presented to the Governance Committee in 12 months time.

(3)         That the procedure be implemented on 1 April 2011.

(4)         That information on sickness levels in the last five years be reported to the Governance Committee in February 2011.

43.1         The Committee considered a report of the Strategic Director, Resources concerning the revised procedure for the improved management of sickness absence within the council.

43.2         The Head of Human Resources & Organisational Development explained that the new procedure had been developed over two years and would replace and simplify existing procedures. Significant consultation had taken place with managers, trade unions and workers’ forums within the council, in addition to benchmarking against other local authorities and organisations. The procedure aimed to be supportive, rather than disciplinary, and encourag early problem solving and consistency amongst managers across the whole organisation. Emphasis was also placed on appropriate training for managers to enable them to support staff and in particular to understand issues around staff with disabilities or long term health problems.

43.3         The Chairman noted that a further report would be brought to the Committee after 12 months following several months of operation of the new procedure.

43.4         Councillor Mears requested further clarity on when the procedure would be implemented and when the update report would be received. She requested that the benchmarking data be circulated to members of the Committee and that an additional report on sickness levels over the last five years be brought to a future meeting.

43.5         The Head of HR & OD agreed to circulate the benchmarking data and advised that training for managers was currently being arranged, after which the procedure would be implemented in line with the new HR payroll system, which would offer real-time data on sickness absence and alerts to managers; a report on progress would be most valuable after 12 months of operation.

43.6         The Chairman suggested that the Committee receive a progress report six months after the procedure has been implemented, which was likely to be in April 2011, and that a report on sickness levels over the last five years be brought to the next meeting.

43.7         In response to questions from Councillor Mitchell in relation to time off for medical appointments, the Head of HR & OD explained that the emphasis was on staff attending appointments during their own time, but that the procedure allowed for flexibility where this was not possible.

43.8         Councillor Randall welcomed the procedure and the aim of reducing the number of days of sickness through early intervention and support. He noted that different jobs across the organisation would have different pressures and supported Councillor Mears’ request for more contextual information.

43.9         In response to a query from Councillor Randall in relation to the issuing of a written warning at stage one of the formal process following an Absence Review Meeting, the Head of HR & OD explained that the decision to make this a requirement was made in order to provide clear guidance to managers and achieve greater consistency across departments; it was hoped that managers would be able to use discretion in the future, but a more prescriptive approach would be taken in the first instance.

The trade unions were generally supportive of the new procedure and were particularly pleased with the inclusion of stipulations around making reasonable adjustments where appropriate.

43.10    In response to questions from Councillor Elgood, the Head of HR & OD explained that the reduction in the number of absence spells triggering an Absence Review Meeting was in line with data received from organisations successfully managing sickness absence and also followed the principal on early problem solving.

She also explained that the procedure did not include information on time off for staff when their children were unwell as this was covered by existing policies on special leave.

43.11    The Chairman requested that information on the special leave policy be circulated to members of the Committee along with further explanation of the wording used in the procedure to explain the requirement for managers to confirm all discussions with employees about sickness in writing, as requested by Councillor Simson.

43.12    The Chairman moved an amendment to the recommendations, which would provide greater clarity on timescales for implementation of the procedure and subsequent reports to the Committee.

43.13    Councillor Mears formally seconded the amendment and opposition Members confirmed their support for it.

43.14    The Chairman thanked the Deputy Chairman for engaging in valuable preliminary discussions about the report prior to the meeting.

43.15    RESOLVED –

(1)         That the Committee approves the new Attendance Management Procedure.

(2)         That the impact of the new procedure be monitored and a report be presented to the Governance Committee six months after implementation and a report be presented to the Governance Committee in 12 months time.

(3)         That the procedure be implemented on 1 April 2011.

(4)         That information on sickness levels in the last five years be reported to the Governance Committee in February 2011.