Absenteeism gets its marching orders

All employers fear excessive staff absence - it delays projects; adds pressure to other employees and generally undermines staff morale. This is a big problem for many organisations across the country and, in particular, the public sector. It became a real problem for Shepway District Council when its absenteeism levels peaked at 12 days per person in 2005. However, with the appointment of a new Strategic HR Manager, a change in attitude towards long-term absence and the implementation of an Employee Assistance Programme, Shepway has seen absenteeism levels drop by half and long term ill-health cut from 14 cases to just 2.

On arriving at Shepway Council, which provides a broad range of services to the residents of Folkestone, Hythe and Romney Marsh, new HR Manager, Wendy Head, found there was no clear absence management policy, staff often used indirect forms of communication when they were unwell, such as texting or emailing colleagues, and managers were concerned about how to deal with such cases. The council, therefore, needed a strategy that would support both line managers and employees in tackling the high level of absenteeism and the lack of confidence in the absence policies.

Shepway also enlisted the help of local occupational health expert, Premier Occupational Health and its partner, FirstAssist to help tackle these challenges.

Premier Occupational Health implemented processes to pro-actively manage the long term ill ñhealth cases at Shepway, providing a process for sickness absence recording and rehabilitation to help employees get back to work. These processes were implemented in conjunction with the introduction of the FirstAssist Employee Assistance Programme (EAP), with the dual goal of reducing absence, increasing productivity, nurturing talent and covering legal obligations.

Unlike many other EAPs, the FirstAssist EAP supports all of Shepwayís absenteeism concerns by supporting both the managers and their staff with confidential telephone advice provided 24/7 and online resource of information and advice. In addition, the flexible approach of FirstAssistís EAP meant that it could be tailored to Shepwayís specific needs.

With FirstAssist and Premierís support the council focused on the absence management policy to ensure all managers knew their responsibilities and the support available to them. Training based around case studies and role playing were also delivered to build confidence in dealing with specific and difficult absence related situations that may arise.

ìManagers now have a clear understanding of how to deal with absence, with the result that the number of cases has dropped significantlyî confirmed Wendy Head, HR Manager, Shepway Council. ìBoth Premier Occupational Health and FirstAssistís services have been seen as positive and supportive by staff at the council. Overall confidence in the absence policy has definitely improvedî.

îBy working in partnership with Premier Occupational Health, we have been able to provide a complete care package for Shepway which has made a substantial difference to the health and happiness of employees and in turn the success of the councilî confirmed Rory Murphy, Head of Commercial, FirstAssist. ìWe feel our support, through the EAP, has made such a difference to Shepway and weíre delighted at the drop in absence and increased confidence of the staff ñ this is just what an EAP is all about.î