Covid and mental health issues behind increase in staff sickness levels at Northumberland County Council

A report presented to members of the corporate services and economic growth scrutiny committee revealed there had been a “steady increase” in sickness absence at the council in recent months.

Council officers have said that struggles with mental health and staff being more careful and considerate with respiratory conditions following the coronavirus pandemic have been named as the reasons behind the increased staff absence levels.

The report compared the figures to those from 2019 – the most recent year considered “typical” due to the pandemic. Data showed that there was an increase from 4.25% of days lost to sickness to 5.26%, with employees losing an average of 11.68 days in 2023 compared to 9.44 in 2019.

This was higher than the national average (9.6 days) but the lowest average in the North East.

It was pointed out that staff absence can not only put additional strain on colleagues who do come into work, but also on council budgets if agency staff are required to plug gaps.

Director of workforce Sarah Farrell said: “Most short-term absences were due to respiratory conditions, while longer term was down to mental health. This is reflected nationally, we are not alone in this – it’s not right to think about Northumberland in isolation.

“With respiratory conditions, people are less likely to tough it out and more likely to stay at home to protect and respect colleagues. With regards to mental health, I think we can understand the impact of the pandemic.

“These things don’t just resolve themselves overnight. We have seen higher prevalence of financial hardship, a higher proportion of people being burnt out and more relationships breaking down.”

It was also noted that while women were more likely to take absences than men, there had been large increases in absences compared to 2019 in certain professions that are dominated by male staff. These included refuse loaders (26% increase) and highways operatives or drivers (24%).

It was pointed out that there had been efforts to reduce the stigma around men discussing mental health, which could have played a role in this.

Mrs Farrell said options available included mental health training, more health checks, reviewing cases of musculoskeletal injury and psychological risk management.