Council's 52,000 lost working days due to staff absence equates to £6million
Staff absence throughout Stirling Council saw more than 50,000 working days lost in a year - equating to over £6million in pay.
Figures due to be reported to this week's finance and economy committee, show a reduction in working days lost (WDL) for the financial year 2024-25 - with the total number 52,593.
But, in their report, officials said: 'While this is a decrease by 8403 WDL from 2023-24, in pay costs alone this rate of absence amounts to over £6million.
'Teacher absence has reduced to 8.07 WDL (down 0.76 compared to 2023-24) and absence for all other employees (AOE) has reduced to 16.78 WDL (down 1.31).
'Overall this reduced council-wide absence level to 14.25 WDL (down 1.93 WDL since 2022-23).'
HSCP (Health and Social Care Partnership), Education (non-teaching) and Environment and Place, accounted for the highest levels of annualised days lost per FTE (full time equivalent). However, in each of these service areas, the working days lost have reduced from the previous year.
Children and Families, however, experienced the most significant increase in WDL - by 3.08 WDL to 15.25 WDL.
The report added: 'It should be noted that an ongoing factor which may adversely impact attendance at work in these service areas, is the nature of some roles being more physically or mentally/emotionally demanding.
'In 2023-24 Stirling ranked 31st for AOE (all other employees) and 30th for teachers. The 2024-25 absence figures are not yet published, however, based on improving figures, the placing for Stirling based on the 2023-24 figures is expected to be 28th for AOE and 18th for teachers.'
When combined, anxiety, stress and depression remain the main driver for working days lost in 2024-25.
However, when these reasons are considered separately, musculoskeletal absence is the main reason for WDL in 2024-25 at 10,200 - an increase from 2023-24 when a reduction of 1601 WDL was recorded against 2022-23 figures.
Personal stress is the second main reason for absence, although this has reduced by 317 WDL. Work-related stress had a slight reduction by 236 WDL to 3114 WDL. Anxiety/depression also had a small reduction of 59 WDL.
Coughs/colds/flu have recorded a higher number of WDL than was anticipated, with an increase by 2174 WDL to 6752 WDL. The increase is said to reflect the prevalence of respiratory illness during the recent winter months.
Gastrointestinal absence reduced by 530 WDL to 5613 WDL.
The report says the council's approach to the management of health-related absence is based on providing early intervention support and, where the Supporting Attendance process is progressed, methods such as return-to-work meetings, attendance support meetings, and attendance review meetings are held which also identify any support needed. During 2024-25 there were 1205 such meetings.
Staff absence due to an underlying health reason which makes it difficult for an employee to attend work, or to maintain a reasonable attendance level at work, is supported via the Attendance Capability Process which saw 148 meetings in 2024-25.
Ongoing sickness absence, for which there is no underlying medical condition, may be progressed in accordance with the council's disciplinary procedures - and nine disciplinary investigations were held in 2024-25 due to an 'unacceptable level' of attendance at work.
There is said to have been an 'incresasing trend' in individual cases progressing to Attendance Capability since 2022, with 148 individuals in 2024-25 - 11 whose employment has been terminated.
Separately, the Disciplinary Procedure is progressed for absences where staff have been supported through the Supported Attendance Policy but have been unable to sustain an acceptable level of attendance at work, and where such absences are not due to an underlying health reason.
In 2024-25 there were nine disciplinary hearings held due to unacceptable levels of attendance.
The sanction in the majority of hearings due to attendance levels, was a first warning.
Among a range of measures outlined in the report to support staff are the Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) which provides staff with free and confidential counselling at any time they need it; support services for immediate family; access to a wellbeing portal which can be downloaded to personal devices; and monthly wellbeing seminars.
The report said: 'During 2024-25 there were 107 calls and 143 sessions of counselling. Of these, telephone counselling has been the most used method, with 72 sessions delivered. Uptake of counselling has dropped significantly from the 2023-24 figure by 718 sessions.
'Staff calls to our EAP are received by a professional counsellor who can provide real time support and advice. This may contribute to the reduction in additional referrals required.
'The EAP provides a wide range of support beyond counselling. This includes access to an online portal and app offering self-help resources such as financial advice and wellbeing tools. Increased use of these resources may have contributed to a reduction in calls to the helpline.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
Elevance Health loses bid to challenge US Medicare star ratings
CHICAGO, Aug 19 (Reuters) - A federal judge in Texas on Tuesday rejected Elevance Health's (ELV.N), opens new tab challenge of the U.S. government's calculation for the health insurer's star ratings for some of its government-backed Medicare plans after the company said improper rounding cost it at least $375 million. U.S. District Judge Mark Pittman in Fort Worth, Texas, sided with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services after the company sued to fight the star rating assigned to one of its contracts, arguing the agency's calculations for the ratings were flawed. Pittman said Elevance had not pointed out any major problems with the calculations and that the process is too complicated for the court to evaluate it beyond that. Elevance, the parent of companies including Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield and Carelon, provides Medicare Advantage plans in the U.S. The plans are funded by the Medicare health insurance program for seniors and some disabled people, but administered by private insurers. The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, which is part of HHS, issues star ratings for the plans, from one to five stars, to help beneficiaries choose among them. Plans with higher star ratings receive higher payments from the government if they keep costs below certain targets. Those bonus payments can be worth hundreds of millions or billions of dollars. Elevance had said the agency's calculations for 2025 caused at least one of its contracts to just miss being rated at the next higher tier, likely costing the company at least $375 million in bonus and other payments. A spokesperson for Elevance did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Neither did representatives for HHS. Elevance filed its lawsuit in October, after one of its contracts received a score of 3.749565 and was assigned 3.5 stars. The company said CMS had not followed its own regulations when it rounded down, and the contract should have been rounded up to 4 stars. HHS countered that its scoring process was sound, arguing that if the court allowed Elevance's challenge to move forward, it would be opening the door to yearly challenges from insurers whose contracts just missed the cutoff for higher tiers. The company was one of several health insurers to sue after CMS released the 2025 star ratings. Last month, another Texas federal judge tossed a lawsuit brought by Humana that challenged the reduction in the health insurer's star ratings after finding that Humana had failed to exhaust all of its out-of-court options to challenge the ratings.
The Independent
2 hours ago
- The Independent
RFK Jr, 71, and Hegseth, 45, in fitness battle at Pentagon where Defense Secretary has decorated walls with pictures of himself
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth competed in a fitness challenge in the Pentagon, where photos of Hegeseth lined the walls. Amid the Trump administration's push to 'Make America Healthy Again,' the Cabinet secretaries participated in the so-called 'Pete and Bobby challenge': completing 100 push ups and 50 pull ups in 10 minutes. The pair posted the challenge in a social media video Monday. Hegseth may have been trying to encourage a remake of America's health scene, but the footage also revealed he seems to have remade parts of the Pentagon, transforming his place of work to feel like home. As the pair walked toward the Pentagon Athletic Center to complete the challenge, the two men passed by photos of Hegseth decorating the building's hallway walls. One picture showed the defense secretary planting a kiss on the cheek of his third wife Jennifer Rauchet as she closes her eyes and smiles at his swearing-in ceremony in January. Another photo seemed to capture Hegseth, President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Major General Trevor Bredenkamp saluting before laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in May. 'It's all about making America healthy again. We're gonna be fit, not fat,' Hegseth said, speaking directly to the camera inside what he called 'the bowels of the Pentagon.' 'We want recruits that are ready to go and challenged,' the defense secretary continued. Kennedy then chimed in: 'Pete and I are going to do our part to encourage American youth to do this challenge.' Hegseth, sporting gym garb, and Kennedy, clad in a t-shirt and jeans, both completed the challenge in under six minutes, according to the video. The video then spliced footage of service members working out in the fitness center, set to high intensity music. Kennedy then challenged Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy while Hegseth challenged Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine and his former Fox News colleague Will Cain to participate in the fitness test. 'We hope Americans will take this challenge and you'll pass it along so that we're ready to be fit the way we need to be healthy and to have a healthy fighting force,' Hegseth said. The fitness challenge comes amid the Trump administration's push to 'Make America Healthy Again.' Last month, the president signed an executive order to revive the Presidential Fitness Test schoolchildren. The president 'wants to ensure America's future generations are strong, healthy, and successful,' White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement last month.
Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
The dire warning my doctor gave me after I told her how much water I drink a day
Water is widely considered the healthiest liquid for the human body, but one gym-goer has revealed she was warned by her doctor to cut back on H2O in fear it was slowly killing her. Writer Claire Cameron was in good shape, either running or going to the gym every day as she was training for a marathon, and she had a healthy diet. Because of her rigorous training, and the general idea that staying hydrating is good for you, Cameron was drinking up to four liters of water a day. But during a doctor's visit two years ago, alarm bells started ringing after she had a routine blood test and her doctor asked if she had experienced loss of consciousness, dizziness, confusion, seizures or an altered mental state. While Cameron hadn't experienced any of these things - just mild headaches - her doctor said, based on her blood test results, it was only a matter of time. Her lab work showed she had alarmingly low levels of sodium in her body. Sodium helps regulate the body's fluid levels and control blood pressure. Severe low sodium, a condition called hyponatremia, can lead to serious complications like brain swelling, seizures, coma, and ultimately, death. Drinking too much water can cause hyponatremia to occur because the kidneys' ability to excrete water can be overwhelmed and this dilutes the sodium levels in your bloodstream. Water is widely considered the healthiest liquid for the human body. But one health gym-goer revealed she was drinking so much it nearly killed her (stock image) Your browser does not support iframes. In a piece for Slate, Cameron wrote on top of her water consumption she would consume more liquid through her 'morning coffees, a soda here and there, food (water filled!)', and any other drinks she happened to have. The writer explained: 'Altogether, I was getting too much water. Way, way too much. And now I was in danger.' According to the Mayo Clinic, women should drink about 11.5 cups of water per day (2.7 liters), while men should consume 15.5 cups (3.7 liters). However, if you're exercising in the heat, aim for four to eight ounces every 20 minutes, depending on the intensity of the workout. Cameron was drinking to keep hydrated but she wasn't replacing the sodium lost from her sweat through sodium-rich foods and drinks. Sports drinks packed with electrolytes are one of the most convenient options for athletes or those engaging in intense physical activity to keep their sodium levels in check. Healthy sodium levels in the blood typically range from 135 to 145 milliequivalents per liter (mEq/L) or millimoles per liter (mmol/L) and a level below this range is considered hyponatremia, or low sodium. Cameron did not reveal what her reading was, just that it was below the healthy level. Hyponatremia occurs when drinking too much water within a short time frame overwhelms the body's organs, namely the kidneys. Normally, the kidneys filter out extra water and waste, producing urine. Dr Thunder Jalili, a professor of nutrition and integrative physiology at the University of Utah, previously told the Wall Street Journal that a person's kidneys can typically filter out one liter of water every hour. 'When you drink more than a liter of water an hour, that's when you run into the risk of potentially diluting your electrolytes,' he said. John Putnam (pictured), then 74, suffered heart attack-like symptoms after drinking too much water These include sodium, which is vital for regulating the amount of fluid in the body, but having too little of it causes water to build up around the body's cells. The cells then swell, leading to nausea, vomiting, headaches, confusion, muscle weakness, dizziness, and restlessness. But in more severe cases, such as Putnam's, it can lead to heart attack-like symptoms such as chest pain. Cameron said her doctor's response was 'blunt' and she was told that if she didn't change her habits she would be 'risking far worse than a headache.' She was told to drink no more than a liter of fluid daily for several days in order to bring her sodium levels back to a healthy baseline. As a person used to drinking up to four liters a day, she found that cutting back was 'hard.' Two years on from her initial diagnosis, Cameron wrote that she is better at monitoring her water intake but she is still not perfect. She concluded: 'Have I learned my lesson? Sort of. 'I've been diagnosed with hyponatremia more than once since that first instance; my doctor thinks I'm one of those people that just run a little low on sodium. 'But I have made changes. I make a conscious effort to notice my thirst while exercising. When I know I'm going to be sweating a lot, I also take an electrolyte mix called LMNT, which I order online; it contains almost half of my daily recommended sodium. 'I also feel entirely at liberty with the table salt. It's working for me.' Cameron's story comes about a year after Texas resident John Putnam, then 74, suffered heart attack-like symptoms after drinking too much water. Putnam was working as a landscaper in June 2024 when the temperatures reached 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 Celsius). By the time he mowed his second lawn of the day, Putnam was so thirsty he had consumed almost three gallons of water within five hours. However, he was overcome with nausea and fatigue, which turned into chest pain and trouble breathing by evening. Putnam was rushed to the hospital for what he believed was a heart attack. Instead, doctors told him he had suffered water poisoning. Researchers have suspected that water toxicity is on the rise due to an increase in heat waves across the US. Research from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) suggests that the condition affects anywhere from 3million to 6million Americans every year, or at least one in 100 people. Hyponatremia can also be more common in older adults like Putnam. According to the Mayo Clinic, this is because older patients are more likely to take medications or suffer from conditions that lower their sodium levels. In severe cases of hyponatremia, brain cells swell and lead to pressure inside the skull. Blood flow to the brain then becomes reduced, resulting in seizures, coma, and even death. Treatment for hyponatremia depends on the severity of the condition. For mild cases, doctors may restrict fluids. However, more severe cases may require medications to manage low sodium levels or replacing sodium intravenously.
