The Chief Local Government Auditor reports on absenteeism based on data requested from the 26 councils on an annual basis. The data is analysed over a three year period to counter the impact of annual fluctuations in absenteeism which could distort findings particularly within smaller councils. In 2009-10, Northern Ireland councils employed over 9,800 staff at a cost of £299 million. Staff costs account for 42% of the councils' expenditure. The report sets out a number of main findings and recommendations, including: Northern Ireland councils as a whole lost almost 122,000 days to absenteeism in 2009-10, an increase of around 700 days compared to 2008-09; there is a resultant absenteeism rate of 12.39 days for each full time equivalent employee which reflects a marginal reduction of 0.04 days. This absenteeism rate for all Northern Ireland councils is now lower than any annual rate recorded this decade with a reduction of 16%. Stress, depression, mental health and fatigue remains the largest cause of days lost due to absenteeism, responsible for 22% of days lost in 2009-10, down 1% from 2008-09. As in previous reports, the NIAO recommends that councils with high and rising absenteeism rates should review their own management practices and benchmark these against those councils with low and falling absenteeism rates. In general there was an improvement in the quality of absenteeism data presented by the councils.

The Chief Local Government Auditor reports on absenteeism based on data requested from the 26 councils on an annual basis. The data is analysed over a three year period to counter the impact of annual fluctuations in absenteeism which could distort findings particularly within smaller councils. The report notes that 121,000 working days were lost as a result of sickness which is an average of 12.43 days per employee during 2008-09,There has been a reduction of 1.27 days (or 9 per cent) compared to the 2007-08 rate of 13.7 days. The current absence rate is lower than at any time during the last decade. There has been a reduction in the cost of lost productivity due to absence from £16.4m in 2007-08 to £15.5m in 2008-09. In terms of long term absence, 65 per cent of the total cost of time lost due to absence was as a result of long term absence compared with only 5 per cent for the UK economy. Stress, depression, mental health and fatigue are noted as the largest cause of absenteeism, being responsible for 23 per cent of all days lost. Musculoskeletal problems accounted for 17 per cent of absence and together these two causes account for £6.3m worth of lost productivity. The importance of the management of absenteeism is emphasised, and councils with high and rising absenteeism rates should benchmark their practices against the best-performing councils.

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