Friday
09Jan2009
SACK THEM ALL....
Friday, January 9, 2009 at 10:58PM Did you see that local Council employees across Northern Ireland missed a staggering 130,849 days at work through sick leave last year, costing ratepayers £16.4m? The total for 2007/08 worked out at an average of 13.7 days for every full-time employee. Stress and associated problems were the most common cause of absenteeism. Yes, stress, sure. This lot are engaged in a culture of institutional laziness and of course stress is a great excuse. Stressed doing nothing, more likely,
I say sack the lot of these scroungers.
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Reader Comments (11)
Those of us who are self employed can't afford to be stressed. Its about time the public sector here in NI was slashed, then they would have something to be stressed about.
That's three working weeks on the sick. Scandalous.
But it's the same every year and nothing happens. Sack the managers who allow it to happen.
Sack the managers that are probably responsible for the stress.
Aileen
While it cannot be denied that some individuals will have had genuine long term periods of sick whether unrelated to work or due to having real stressfull circumstances at work -often due to difficult treatment from particular bosses - it cannot be denied that a lot of the sickness will be from people having lots of single days off just becasue they can't be bothered to go into work and the system allows that.
Colm
I don't disagree. However in my experience in the public sector there is too much tolerance of crap bosses. I am not just talking about staff who actually treat staff badly, but also those who are so crap that they make the job more stressful than it needs to be and make it difficult for the emnployee to do the job that I absolutely beleive that most people actually want to do. It isn't helped by the daft way we have of promoting to managerial postions as a way of progressing and rewarding people who shoe cometance or even excellence as pratitioners. Thus taking them away from what they are good at and into somtheing that they are often crap at.
I used to work with Londonderry Corporation[1964-1966], when they employed approximately 200 staff. At that time local councils / Corporations in the case of Londonderry and Belfast, had responsibility for Health, Education, Roads, Rubbish, Cemeteries and much more. The now 'Derry' City Council has over 600 staff and their responsibilites are 'Bogs, Bins and Burials; with a little economic development and much community development grants. So the current regime have 3 times the workforce and about 10% of the the responsibilities of the former Corporation.
Yet they have staff who are supposed to be 'under stress', hence the reason the council is third on the list of 'sickie' levels amongst the 26 councils in Northern Ireland. Whilst, according to the recently appointed Chief Executive of the Council, Valerie Watts, the figures for the current year [2007/2008] will show a vast improvement on the published figures, which were for 2006/2007.
I have worked closely with a great number of 'Derry' Council staff for quite a number of years and wonder why there should be any stress....O.K. I know a number of staff who have long-term illnesses....in fact, a friend is suffering cancer and has had a number of months off ill, but he is an example to others with less serious sickness....he, ignores his Doctor's advice and returns to work before he should.
I knew a guy who worked in the public sector. Asked one day how many days holidays he had left, he replied, 'I have only got 5 days left, but I still have 17 days of my sick leave to take'.
Says it all, doesn't it?
William, personnally I don't think that someone ignoring doctors advice is a great example. That can mean more time of afterwards. I have done that myself with virus's returned to work too soon, underpar and for the sake of a few more days off to reciver properly ended up with having to take another two weeks off. Lose Lose situation.
There has been a very lax attitude to sinkness in the past but new measues to deal with it often don't take account of the realities of different illnesses and re stress, how much of it is caused by imcompetant managers and working practices.
Then there are those who you hope will take time off sick as at least they are doing no harm then and others are not having to double their work load in undoing it.
Tony,
That's unbelievable. I've been working full-time for 6 years and have taken 4 sick days in total.
I know I'm fortunate not to have been really sick during that period but we all know the people who are genuinely sick and those who aren't.
Aileen...I don't disagree...but my friend's 'sickness' is cancer and his time off is mainly due to his receiving chemotherapy....so he goes back to work before he really should, as a single person, he finds it theraputic to be back amongst friends rather than sitting at home on his won.
Reg.....I am aware of people in the public service, both local and central government, who see the period of 'sick leave' recorded in their 'Contract of Employment' as additional holidays...that would be my reading of the mindset of the guy in Tony's example
sorry for the typo: 5th line should read: 'own' rather than 'won'
Apologies....