THE STRESS OF IT ALL!

There is some debate in the UK as to whether the State sector could be trimmed a little in the years ahead. Thus far it  remains impervious to the recession and is still recruiting. This story might give you a reason why...

Council workers are taking nearly twice as many sick days as private sector employees, according to a study. The 'sick note' culture in the public sector is costing taxpayers £4billion a year.

On average local authority employees take 13.5 sick days each year, compared with 7.9 days in the private sector. The study of council 'sickies' was conducted by the Benenden Healthcare Society, which provides healthcare to council workers, and the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives. Ut found that sickness absence could easily be cut by 20 per cent, saving £800million a year of public money if councils did more to tackle rampant absenteeism.

Now, why does such "rampant absenteeism" occur in the state sector but not in the private sector? Simple. In the wealth-creating sector persistent absenteesism is tackled head-on and if there is no good cause, such lead-swinging individuals are invited to take a hike. But in the State sector where disciplinary procedures are so lax and so very few ever get fired, employees feel they are entitled to take huge chunks of sickies. The kicker is that WE - the taxpayer - fund their laziness. The state sector does not need trimmed. It needs savaged.