Civil Service Sickness Absence Rate Increases
A new report has found that sickness absence in relation to civil servants increased from 7.9 average working days lost in the year to the 31st March 2022, to 8.1 days in the year to the 31st March 2023.
Other findings were:-
- In terms of the 8.1 days, 4.4 days related to long term sickness absence (up from 4.3 days the previous year) and 3.7 days to short-term sick leave (up from 3.6 days the previous year)
- 49% of civil servants had no sickness absence
- Mental health issues represented the main cause of long term sickness absence (45%), whilst 'respiratory system illnesses' were the princiapl cause of short term sick leave (22%)
- Sickness absense amongst women was 8.9 days, compared to 7.2 days for men
- The department with the highest level of sickness absence was the Ministry of Justice (11.1 days), whereas the Department for Culture, Media and Sport had the lowest (3.1%)
- Sickness absence levels increase with age. Whereas the average rate for the over 60's was 10.8 days, it was 6.6 days for those aged 16-29
The average number working days lost to sickness absence of 8.1 days in the civil service was considerable higher than in the private sector (5.8 days), although it is lower when compared to the public sector as a whole (10.6 days)
Commenting upon the statistics, a Government repesentative stated: "We expect sick leave to be managed with common sense. The civil service provides its employees with a comprehensive range of health and wellbeing tools, supportive policies, measures and signposting to ensure that employees remain in work or return to work as quickly as possible following absence due to ill health."
Conservative Party MP, Jacob Rees-Mogg, added: "The high levels of sickness in the public sector are a cause of concern. It seems unlikely that public servants are much less healthy than those in the private sector so there is probably a degree of malingering."
However, Liberal Democrat MP, Christine Jardine, contends: "These figures are deeply concerning and show there is a growing long-term sickness crisis at the heart of government. Ministers need to look into why civil servants are losing so many days to long-term sick leave and whether they are receiving the support they need.....Ministers need to do more to tackle soaring rates of long-term sick leave in their own departments and across the country."
26% Of Projects Fail To Meet Their Objectives
A new report from the Project Management Institute (PMI) entitled 'Pulse of the Profession 2024', has found that 26% of projects are failing in terms of meeting their objectives, with 10% being deemed a complete failure which delivered absolutely nothing of value.
The PMI’s Regional Managing Director for Europe, Lysan Drabon, stated: "Projects are currently in crisis, which has dire implications for all organisations aiming to adapt to the challenges of our changing world. Whether its projects to help tackle climate change or integrating AI to boost operational efficiencies, continuing at this rate of failure is simply unsustainable."
Nevertheless, the report also found that work location, including working from home, had no impact in terms of the success or otherwise of the project. The report states: "Research reveals that negative perceptions of work from anywhere are unfounded, both at the project level and more broadly throughout organizations.....work location has no negative impact on project performance."
The report added: "These results indicate that organizations will not see a significant benefit to project performance by bringing employees back into the office, especially considering the negative impact such a move would have on employee morale and retention and the operational costs of inperson work. Rather, organizations should focus on empowering project professionals with flexibility in the how, where and when they work, without worrying about negative impacts on project performance."
