Civil Service clerical officers take average of 16 sick days per year

CLERICAL OFFICERS in the Civil Service take an average of 16 sick days per year, according to a new report by the Comptroller and Auditor General John Buckley.

The study, Sickness Absence in the Civil Service, found 59 per cent of staff employed in 2007 availed of sick leave that year and the average employee was absent for just over 11 days.

Mr Buckley’s report estimated the total remuneration of Civil Service staff during periods of sickness absence was in the order of €64 million. “However, the full cost could be considerably higher if indirect costs were factored in.”

The report found almost half of all sick days were taken by clerical officers and three-quarters of all clerical officers availed of sick leave. The average number of days taken by each was 16 days.

Female staff absence accounted for 68 per cent of all working days lost. The average number of sick days taken by each female employee was almost 14 days while the average for each male employee was around eight days.

A total of 42 per cent of all instances of absence – representing 9 per cent of all days lost – were not certified by a doctor or “unauthorised”.

Asked to provide figures from the private sector for comparison purposes, a spokesman for the employers’ body Ibec said the average absence rate was about six days per employee.

The average number of days each employee was out sick ranged from almost 5½ days in the Department of the Taoiseach to nearly 16 days in the Property Registration Authority.

The percentage of staff who took sick leave ranged from 42 per cent in the Department of Arts, Sports and Tourism to 76.5 per cent in the State Laboratory.

The average number of days lost for those working a three-day week was almost 80 per cent higher than the average for those who worked a standard week.

“The foregoing pattern suggests that management actions need to be tailored after appropriate research in a way that differentiates appropriately between the nature of the organisation, the grades of staff, the gender of employees and the various work patterns,” the report concluded.

The report said sickness absence was well-governed by Department of Finance rules and regulations. “However, there is an ongoing obligation on each department to ensure that regulations are consistently applied and that all absence is accurately recorded, measured, reported on and that appropriate management action is taken as necessary.”

The last review of the level of sickness absence in the Civil Service was published in 1986.

“The examination found that there has been a significant increase in the level of sickness absence in the Civil Service since it was previously reviewed in the 1980s when the absence rate stood at 3.3 per cent,” the report said.

Five per cent of all instances of absence in 2007 lasted longer than 20 days. These instances accounted for almost half of all days lost, with the average absence lasting 62 days.