A GROUND-BREAKING trial has slashed absenteeism by more than 21 per cent among York council staff.

A pilot scheme was launched in September, 2004, after the 1,000-strong Adult Services department lost 28 days per full-time worker each year, at a cost of £2.3 million.

Instead of calling line managers, sick carers and social workers had to contact occupational health nurses, who offered treatment advice and conducted follow-up checks when required. The council was then told if the employee would be off work and given an indication of a return date.

The latest figures, contained in a report to members of City of York Council's personnel committee, show that the scheme has proved a success.

Between October 2004 and August 2005, the number of incidents of sickness among adult services staff had reduced by 21.56 per cent, compared with the same period from the previous year.

The council as a whole lost an average 13.5 days per full-time equivalent through sickness absence last year, and indications are that this could increase to 15 days by the end of this year.

Under the pilot scheme in adult services, between October 2004 and August 2005, just under eight days per full-time equivalent were lost. This figure does not include long-term sickness cases.

Now councillors have several options available to them when the pilot scheme finishes on December 31.

They include investing more money into the scheme and building on its success, or abolishing it altogether. Council officers fear the latter option would lead to a rise in sickness absence levels again.

If councillors decided to continue the scheme, additional human resources staff would be needed to help support managers handle the issues of sickness across adult services.

Investment in in-house IT systems would also be required, as the Active Health systems provide realtime information and reporting capability, something which the existing systems cannot do.

The Evening Press previously reported that Unison union leaders were against the scheme, saying it put sick employees under pressure to return to work.

Peter Household, former general convener of Unison's York city branch, said then that the council should tackle causes of sickness absences, such as "excessive" workloads.

Updated: 12:23 Tuesday, October 25, 2005