Jonathan Ashworth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2016-03-10.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many and what proportion of officials of his Department took sick leave for reasons relating to stress in each of the last five years; and what proportion of total sick leave that leave was in each such year.
Mr Edward Vaizey
The average days’ sickness absence per full time equivalent employed by DCMS during the last financial year was 2.0 days.
The Civil Service takes a holistic approach to managing sick absence and improving wellbeing and we have focussed on specific actions to reduce the incidence of mental disorders, including stress related absence. This includes
-
early referral to occupational health experts, particularly for mental health, stress or musculoskeletal conditions,
-
early referral to Employee Assistance Programmes (EAP) for CBT based counselling support for mental health issues,
-
workplace adjustments that help to prevent conditions from developing or worsening, whilst reducing the barriers to work for those affected by mental or physical impairments,
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extensive training for managers and employees including on disability and mental health awareness, well-being, resilience and stress.
|
Financial Year |
Number of officials who took sick leave for reasons relating to stress |
Proportion of officials who took sick leave for reasons relating to stress |
Proportion of total sick such sick leave was in the department |
|
Apr 14 – Mar 15 |
1 |
0.2% |
0.5% |
|
Apr 13 – Mar 14 |
2 |
0.5% |
0.9% |
|
Apr 12 – Mar 13 |
3 |
0.8% |
1.2% |
|
Apr 11 – Mar 12 |
5 |
1.1% |
2.1% |
|
Apr 10 – Mar 11 |
6 |
1.4% |
2.5% |
Background
We have reported on the average sickness absence in the annual report (link) and do not specifically report on sickness absence due to stress.
The DCMS sick absence data is low in comparison with the Civil Service average of 7.4 Average Working Days Lost. We do not have any evidence to know why this is. HR continues to remind all staff and managers of the importance of accurate and prompt recording on the HR system.
|
Financial Year |
Number of officials who took sick leave for reasons relating to stress |
Proportion of officials who took sick leave for reasons relating to stress |
Department FTE |
Total sickness in department |
Percentage of staff who took Stress Related Absence against total staff who recorded a sick absence |
|
Apr 14 – Mar 15 |
1 |
0.2% |
461 |
203 |
0.5% |
|
Apr 13 – Mar 14 |
2 |
0.5% |
381 |
234 |
0.9% |
|
Apr 12 – Mar 13 |
3 |
0.8% |
376 |
259 |
1.2% |
|
Apr 11 – Mar 12 |
5 |
1.1% |
457 |
243 |
2.1% |
|
Apr 10 – Mar 11 |
6 |
1.4% |
443 |
242 |
2.5% |
¹Department FTE from DCMS Annual Report & Accounts 2010-11 and 2014-15
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