Agenda item

Michael Taylor - Workforce Insight Analyst strategic, HR & OD

Jo Pitt - Director HR&OD outlined the report.

Points made included:

That during this quarter the UK government lifted all government restrictions on social contact. The council, however, continued to operate with restrictions inside of council-owned buildings to safeguard staff and Wiltshire residents, with workplace access restrictions and social distancing measures remaining in place.

The pandemic had reinforced the need for a more agile and adaptable workforce, and work through our Organisational Recovery programme continued to address this. The Agile workstream had introduced the Agile Workforce Pool which allowed staff to undertake temporary placements in critical service areas. This provided staff with the opportunity to build their career, develop skills and expand their knowledge of the council and allowed the council to meet short term demand. Currently there were 71 employees signed up to the Agile Workforce Pool.

COVID-related sickness absence experienced a significant increase this quarter, contributing 75 absences totalling 544 working days. This represented a 175% increase in working days lost (and the largest increase of all absence reasons) compared to the previous quarter (April - June), which saw 18 COVID-related sickness absences totalling 198 working days. However, despite this increase, COVID-related sickness absence still represented only around 7% of the total days lost in the July – September quarter, making COVID-19 the fifth most common reason for absence (previously 11th most common in April - June). This increase was aligned with rising cases experienced nationally during the same period, largely due to the increased transmissibility of the Delta variant and justified the council’s decision to maintain restrictions in all office buildings to safeguard staff and Wiltshire residents. While the council experienced a significant increase in cases during the quarter, this never affected more than 1.2% of the workforce at any one time in the quarter. This was a rate below national figures, with the ONS reporting a high of around 1.6% of the UK population during the quarter. COVID absence figures continued to be reported on a weekly basis and reviewed by the corporate leadership team.

COVID-related absence represented the most significant contribution to the increase in sickness absence (days lost) this quarter due to the increased transmissibility of the Delta variant, the relaxation of all social restrictions and increasing cases seen nationally. In addition ‘muscular/skeletal’ and ‘cold/flu and other infections’ had also experienced significant increases (52% and 72% respectively from April – June 2021). With the majority of our staff working from home, both absence reasons had experienced a significant reduction during the COVID-19 pandemic; however, with current rates similar to pre-COVID, this increase was likely a return to a more ‘normal’ level with social restrictions eased. Stress-related absence had continued to increase this quarter, however the increase was less significant (+7%) to last quarter. The increase in stress-related absence was largely due to a significant increase in non-work related stress, with other stress-related reasons (depression/anxiety, neurological and work-related stress absences) all experiencing reductions compared to the previous quarter (April – June 2021). The increase in non-work related stress appeared predominantly in social care (both adults and childrens) and Joint Commissioning. Work was currently underway to deliver an action plan to reduce sickness absence in general across social care, with a particular focus on reducing stress related absence in these areas.

During this quarter, the council also published the results of a third Wellbeing and Engagement Survey since the start of the pandemic. The results of this survey showed improvements in how satisfied staff were with their physical workspace when working from home, supported by the continued roll out of ICT equipment to create a more appropriate and comfortable workstation at home. This response has experienced a continued improvement across the three Wellbeing and Engagement Surveys conducted so far. The results had also shown an improvement in positive response towards empowerment, work-life balance, morale, and productivity in comparison to the previous survey in October 2020.

Cllr Richard Clewer raised concerns re an increase in stress related absences and whether this was specific to a service – it was agreed that Jo Pitt would follow up.

Decision

·         That the Staffing Policy Committee noted the Quarterly Workforce Report.

The Chairman thanked Jo Pitt for the report.