Sickness absence at a council has increased by nearly a third over the past four years - with staff taking around 38,000 days off sick in the past 12 months.
Latest figures show Stoke-on-Trent City Council is currently losing 10.62 days-a-year to sickness for every full-time employee (FTE) – up from 8.07 days per FTE in April 2014.
Stress-related conditions accounted for 34 per cent of days lost to sickness in 2017/18, which is lower than the national average of 57 per cent.
But the number of council workers taking days off due to 'anxiety, stress or nervous debility' has been increasing since 2012/13, rising to 391 last year.
Council chiefs say that while stress-related absence has risen, support given to staff is helping them come back to work sooner.
A council report states: “The council recognises the increase in stress-related conditions and is committed to supporting staff regardless of whether the condition is personal or work related.
“Statistics show that while the percentage of staff who have been absent with stress-related conditions has increased from 7.7 per cent in 2015/16 to 10 per cent in 2017/18 there has not been an increase in the number of staff absent for two months or longer.
“This suggests that the council is providing valuable support to staff to support them to return to work when they are ready and helping to prevent long term and repeat absences.”
The city council has had a lower sickness absence rate than the national average for unitary authorities – 9.53 compared to 9.7 in 2016/17.
But the report says that the ‘days lost per FTE’ presents a ‘disproportionate’ view of sickness absence, as it can be distorted by those workers on long-term sick.
Top stories on StokeonTrentLive
In 2017 there were 2,058 city council workers with no instances of absence, equating to 54 per cent of the workforce. The most recent sickness absence figures were affected by the national flu outbreak in January, which saw a 101 per cent increase in days lost compared to the previous year.
Public health and adult social care and children and family services were the council directorates with the highest levels of stress-related absence, with around one-in-eight staff being affected.
The report says that last year’s increase in stress-related absence is partly due to increased mental health awareness and better recording.
But Tony Jones, regional organiser for Unison, says rising sickness absence is the result of austerity cuts.
He said: “I’m not surprised by these figures, as Stoke-on-Trent is no different to any other local authority which has suffered from the austerity imposed by central government.
“Redundancies mean more work for the staff who remain, which is going to take a toll on their health and wellbeing. The reality is that we now have one person doing the work of three.
“This is why Unison has been petitioning central government to increase funding for local authorities, which would allow them to lift their recruitment ban.”
The council currently employs around 6,600 people, including in schools – down from around 10,000 in 2012.
Measures aimed at tackling stress and mental health issues among employees have included better training for managers, workplace wellbeing activities such as lunchtime walks and yoga, and a weekly wellbeing and learning newsletter.
Want to tell us about something going on where you live? Let us know - Tweet us @SOTLive or message us on our Facebook page . And if you have pictures to share, tag us on Instagram at StokeonTrentLive.
