Glasgow City Council criticised over working hours lost to stress
Data obtained through a Freedom of Information request has revealed that in 2024 alone, the local authority had to cope with 1612 instances of absence – the highest figure since 2017.
The document also revealed that already in 2025, at least 636 reports of stress-related sickness have been lodged as departments face an ever-increasing workload across education, children's services, social care and health.
The figures show that the cumulative time annually lost due to stress has been steadily rising, going up from 963 instances of absence in 2017 to 1478 in 2023.
The total number between 2017 and now is a staggering 10,192.
Drumchapel and Anniesland councillor Paul Carey BEM believes the data is the result of excessive demands being placed on already-stretched frontline staff. He says people are being asked to cope with a growing burden of more and more work and that these new figures must act as a 'wake-up call' to council chiefs.
Cllr Paul Carey (Image: Colin Mearns) He told the Glasgow Times: 'It is not surprising to me that stress-induced absence among staff has continued to rise year upon year. Council bosses must pay close attention to this because we have already experienced a worrying shortfall of teachers, cleaning workers, classroom assistants and home-helps. If more people are off sick, this becomes a vicious circle because those left to pick up the slack then also end up struggling.
'The figures clearly show that frontline workers are being stretched to their absolute limit and feel so stressed out they are forced to take time away from their jobs to recover.'
He added: 'I am constantly hearing from employees who feel under strain because of the pressure around their roles. Years of cuts to budgets has piled on the pressure and it's clear from the data here that much of the council's workforce feels exhausted.'
However, council bosses say they are committed to supporting staff whose health and wellbeing is being impacted in any way by stress.
A spokesperson added: 'Our priority is providing a supportive work environment for all employees.
'Our absence policy focuses on early intervention and supporting staff with their health and wellbeing. The council also has a counselling and information service available to support employees, and line managers are instructed to ensure staff are aware of it and know how to access the help it can provide.
'The council is a large organisation - the largest local authority in the country - with over 25,000 employees and this is reflected in these figures.'
We previously told how the cash-strapped local authority was under-fire after paying out more than half a million pounds to staff injured in workplace accidents.
READ NEXT: Glasgow City Council paid £600k to employees hurt at work
The council has been forced to fork out an eye-watering £629,291 over the last three years to workers injured in slips, trips, falls and manual handling of defective equipment while at work.
The highest pay out to staff was £447,487 in the financial year 2022/23, while £181,804 was handed to claimants during 2023/24.
Physical injury was the most common reason for action being taken, with a total of 161 claims submitted. This number was followed by physical and psychological injuries, with 45 employees successfully lodging actions.
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