A GROUND-BREAKING trial aimed at tackling "crisis" levels of absenteeism among York council employees is set to get a three-month extension.

City of York Council's sickness absentee pilot scheme received a frosty reception when it was introduced in September, when union leaders claimed the majority of Guildhall employees involved were against having sick calls re-routed 250 miles to a team of nurses in West London.

York was the first council to trial the pilot and hoped to save £172,000.

Concerned council chiefs decided to divert sick calls for three months after research showed the 1,000-strong department lost 28 days per each full-time worker each year, at a cost of £2.3 million.

Instead of calling a council line manager, sick carers and social workers phoned a special number to explain absences to a team of 12 occupational health nurses in Hammersmith. They offer treatment advice and conduct follow-up checks when required.

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

Reasons for absence were not disclosed without the worker's consent.

An interim survey by private health firm Active Health has shown the number of instances of absence "significantly lower" than in previous months, with a much smaller number of days lost due to short-term sickness.

It states it is hard to tell the impact on long-term absence at this stage, as the occupational health nurses have only been handling new absence cases since the beginning of September.

Under existing council policy there are three specific points which should trigger action by a line manager - three instances of absence in three months, four instances of absence in six months, and 20 consecutive working days of sickness absence.

A report to the council's personnel committee says Unison, the public service union, has been consulted from the outset, regular meetings have been held throughout the pilot, and it will be working closely with the council's human resources team.

In September the Evening Press reported Peter Household of Unison saying the "almost universal" view was the change would not solve the non-attendance problem in the adult services department, which he said was fuelled by stress, heavy workloads and lack of staff.

He feared the trial would lead to staff being "harassed" back to work - a claim denied by Active Health.

The council's personnel committee is meeting in the Guildhall at 4.30pm on November 15 to consider the report's findings.

Updated: 10:38 Monday, November 08, 2004