Department for Transport written question – answered at on 19 September 2018.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the number of days of sick leave taken by staff in his Department for mental health reasons in each year since 2010.
The table below provides details on the number of days sickness absence for the central Department for Transport attributed to mental health reasons from the financial year beginning 1 April 2010 to 1 April 2016:
Period | Total days sickness absence (FTE) due to mental disorders | Average Working Days Lost (AWDL) for all sickness reasons, including mental health | Average Working Days Lost (AWDL) due to mental health reasons |
1 April 2010 - 31 March 2011 | 1144 | 4.3 | 0.6 |
1 April 2011 - 31 March 2012 | 1356 | 4.5 | 0.8 |
1 April 2012 - 31 March 2013 | 1634 | 4.7 | 1.1 |
1 April 2013 - 31 March 2014 | 1436 | 3.3 | 0.8 |
1 April 2014 - 31 March 2015 | 795 | 3.5 | 0.4 |
1 April 2015 - 31 March 2016 | 1837 | 3.6 | 0.9 |
1 April 2016 - 31 March 2017 | 1625 | 3.6 | 0.8 |
The Department has a number of sources of support for employees including a free to use Employee Assistance Programme which offers six counselling sessions at a convenient location within days of referral, and a Mental Health Buddy Network run by volunteers. We have also launched a Mental Health First Aid service run by trained volunteers for colleagues in immediate emotional distress.
We recognise the importance of the line manager in mental health, and have a resource available for line managers to provide guidance on managing colleagues with mental health difficulties/issues. We have launched Wellbeing Action Plans, a tool to guide line managers in having conversations around wellbeing, including mental health.
Yes1 person thinks so
No1 person thinks not
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