1. South Northamptonshire Council Review Data Period 1 April 2008 to 30 June 2008

2. Agenda Executive Summary Absence Analysis - April 2008 – June 2008 Recommendations

3. Executive Summary  Your absence rate has decreased by 43% in the first quarter of this financial year against the same period last year. The restructure may have impacted this.  Your absence rate currently sits 45% below the UK public sector average.  The Environment division accounts for the largest number of working days lost per employee.  Short term and long term absence account for 53%:47% of your absence rate respectively.

4. Company Absence Rate Year on Year Your absence rate has decreased year on year. The reduction in absence rate between 2006/7 and 2007/8 was 22% (4.85% v 3.78%).

5. Absence Rate Year on Year Your average absence rate for April to June 2008 was 2.16% compared to 3.77% in the same period in 2007. This is a reduction in absence rate of 43%. Some of this decrease may be attributed to the housing, property and direct services no longer sitting within the Council.

6. Absence Rate Comparison with Sector The average UK public sector absence rate between April – June 2008 was 3.9%. On average, South Northamptonshire Council sits 45% below the sector rate at 2.16%. The public sector rate was sourced from a major CBI/AXA report.

7. Annualised # Of Working Days Lost The forecast of annualised number of working days lost based on the first three months of the financial year shows Environment and Finance divisions as having the highest number of working days lost. The top three reasons for working days lost in Environment were mental health, cardiovascular and surgery. The company annualised working days lost is 4.5 compared to the sector which sits at 9. AHP public sector absence rate

8. Short Term v Long Term Year on Year From April to June 08, short term absence accounted for 53% of the absence rate and long term absence accounted for 47% (200 and 179 days respectively). This compares to 44% short term and 56% long term for the same period last year. Given the small size of your organisation, long term absence can be skewed by a couple of people going on long term sick leave. Robust completion of Return to Works and Absence Assessments is critical to reducing short term absence. 350 days 280 days 179 days 200 Days

9. Top 10 Working Days Lost Company vs. Sector The top three reasons for working day lost are Mental Health, Cardiovascular and Gastrointestinal. In the same period last year, Musculoskeletal, Mental Health and Gastrointestinal were the three top reasons for working days lost. Working days lost in mental health were driven by three employees, cardiovascular working days lost were driven by two employees.

10. Absence By Day of the Week Monday accounts for over 25% of absence slightly up on the same period last year. Tuesday has dropped significantly, while Friday has increased. Is there a reason for this? Given the continued trend of high absence on Mondays, it is important that managers use return to work interviews to drill down and focus on employees who have a number of Short term spells of absence on Mondays.

11. Absence by Gender From April – June 2007, females and males accounted for 50% of your absence rate respectively. For the first three months of this financial year, males accounted for over half the absence rate at 58%. Males are most likely to be absent on Mondays or Wednesdays, while females are most likely to be absent on Mondays and Tuesdays.

12. Recommendations  Key areas to focus on: - Environment – The absence rate is higher than the rest of the organisation. Focus on reducing absence in this department. - Short-term absence –To reduce ST absence, we need to focus on ensuring managers are completing quality return to works and creating robust action points. AHP’s online return to work forms can assist you with this. - Additional support for employees suffering from mental health illnesses. Consider early referral into Occupational Health and use of fast track counselling or EAP schemes - Use of AHP’s absence assessment reports which will assist managers with their ‘next steps’ for employees with frequent or long term absences