Staff sickness absence rates

Request days lost to sickness absence and rates by department.

Sickness absence affects service delivery and staff wellbeing. High absence rates in a particular department may indicate problems with workload, management, or working conditions.

Dear [AUTHORITY NAME], I am writing to request the following information for [FINANCIAL YEAR]: 1. The total number of working days lost to sickness absence. 2. The average number of days lost per employee. 3. A breakdown of absence days by department or directorate. 4. The proportion of absence that was long-term (more than four weeks). I would prefer to receive this by email. Yours faithfully, [YOUR NAME]
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Who to send it to#

Any Scottish public authority. You can find the right authority in the Commissioner’s directory of Scottish public authorities. You can also send your request through WhatDoTheyKnow, which publishes responses online.

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Tips#

  • Most public bodies already calculate these figures for internal reporting, so the request should be straightforward to answer.
  • You can compare the figures against the council averages published through the Local Government Benchmarking Framework.
  • Comparing departments within the same organisation can be more revealing than comparing across different authorities.