A groundbreaking trial designed to cure high levels of absenteeism has triggered claims that York council staff feel "harassed" to return to work.

City of York Council will be asked on Monday to extend the life of the sickness absentee pilot, which has already cut absences by 14 per cent.

But union bosses at York Council have objected, saying it puts sick employees under pressure to return to work.

Council chiefs launched the pilot in September, after learning the 1,000-strong Adult Services department lost 28 days per full-time worker each year, at a cost of £2.3 million. Now, instead of calling line managers, sick carers and social workers speak to occupational health nurses over the phone who offer treatment advice and conduct follow-up checks when required.

The council is then told if the employee will be off work and an indication of return date.

Peter Household, general convener of Unison's York city branch, said: "We are discussing with the council how we can assess the pilot. If we are at loggerheads at the end I can't predict what will happen. The pilot has gone on long enough. I hope a strike won't be necessary."

He explained: "We strongly object to this because we consider that its basic intention is to harass people into returning to work. Some members find it intrusive. People feel under pressure. Everyone has their own doctors if they want medical advice."

Mr Household said the council should tackle causes of sickness absences such as "excessive" workloads, which he said was a concern.

He also objected to the private health firm involved, Active Health Partners, having employees' contact details.

Figures show a 14 per cent fall in sickness absences since the pilot launch and a 25 per cent drop in sickness absence incidents by the same person.

Ken Green, head of Human Resources at York Council, said the council was evaluating the pilot to determine whether it should continue and working with Unison to gauge the views of Adult Services staff.

He said Unison had expressed concerns at the involvement of an outside body, but the council had received "some very positive messages from staff".

If extended, the pilot will run for the rest of 2005 but will not, at this stage, be rolled out across the council.

Mr Green said Active Health Partners had staff contact details to provide follow-up support work with employees who are sick.

"This is not intended to pressure them back to work early, but give them professional support and advice to make them fit for work more quickly."

If successful in reducing absence, he said the scheme would "relieve a great deal of the pressure on colleagues at work".

Updated: 10:27 Thursday, March 10, 2005