ABSENTEE levels among local authority employees over the last three months of last year have cost West Dunbartonshire Council £1.56m.

And that's despite the fact that attendance levels at the local authority have improved by 3.3 per cent during that period.

The latest figures are contained in a report titled Working Well Together- Attendance Management and are based on the third quarter of this financial year (October to December 2016).

The report will be presented to members of West Dunbartonshire Council's Infrastructure Regeneration and Economic Development Committee tomorrow (Wednesday) at their

meeting at Clydebank Town Hall.

The report is asking the committee to note the content of the report and the attendance

results for Q3 2016/17, namely a decrease of 337FTE days (full time equivalent) lost (3.3%) compared to the same period last year.

In relation to the background the report states: "Improving attendance at work is a key strategic priority for the Council requiring commitment from elected members, Strategic Leadership Group, Trades Unions, individual managers and employees.

"The Council has made a commitment to improving attendance levels by setting ambitious targets of reducing days lost for Local Government Employees to 7 FTE (full time equivalent days) lost per employee by 2017, and 5 FTE days lost for

Teachers."

Minor illness accounted for most days lost in the last quarter, with an additional 490 days lost compared to Q3 last year.

And the second highest reason was acute medical conditions followed closely by Musculo-skeletal Injuries (MSK.)

Although days lost due to stress fell compared to quarter three last year, the number of

stress absences (453 FTE days) was higher in December 2016 compared to December 2015.

But the report also goes on to discuss the financial impact to WDC, saying: "Significant absence levels impact on the Council in terms of cost, service delivery and motivation.

"In quarter 3,the Council lost a total of 13,241.95 FTE working days of productivity to sickness absence which is a small improvement of 3.3% compared to quarter three last year.

"Based upon the nominal daily cost of a day’s absence (£118.00), it is estimated that the cost of absence for the Council in the quarter was £1.56m.

"This figure does not take into account the indirect costs of absence such as overtime, loss of productivity, and reduced team performance."

The report adds: "Compared with quarter three last year, there continues to be a significant improvement in absence performance, however, there is still a risk that if the

focus and attention by all stakeholders is not maintained, absence rates could

rise making it difficult to achieve the Council’s target of 7 FTE days for

2016/17.

"This would contribute adversely to the Council’s overall performance."