Work and Pensions written question – answered at on 13 September 2013.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the rates of staff (a) absence and (b) sickness absence in his Department in each of the past five years were; and what the departmental targets were in each case.
In accordance with cross government arrangements; DWP reports sick leave expressed as average working days lost (AWDL) per employee per year. The following table provides AWDL data and targets for the last five performance years.
AWDL | Target | |
2012-13 | (1)7.3 | 7.0 |
2011-12 | 7.3 | 7.0 |
2010-11 | 8.1 | 7.7 |
2009-10 | 8.5 | 7.7 |
2008-09 | 8.9 | 7.7 |
(1 )This figure does not include Child Maintenance Group who joined the Department in August 2012. |
DWP has succeeded in cutting sickness absence from an annual average of 11.1 days per employee in 2007 to 7.4 days per employee currently. As a result, we are spending around £26 million per year less on sick pay and saving time which is the equivalent of employing around 1,500 extra employees.
DWP does not report an employee absence rate, in line with cross government arrangements. Leave entitlement is not recorded centrally and to calculate an employee absence rate would incur disproportionate costs.
Yes1 person thinks so
No1 person thinks not
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