Taxpayers foot £750m bill for cost of public-sector staff sick leave

The cost of sick notes among public sector workers has topped £750 million in lost working days in recent years, it has emerged.

The number of workers facing disciplinary action has doubled over the past year to more than 3,000 as bosses attempt to crack down on the problem, according to a freedom of information request by The Scotsman.

It found that thousands of workers have been dismissed in recent years through poor attendance.

In all, more than 17 million days have been lost as a result of sick days over the last five years.

The figures have come under fire from opposition parties at Holyrood which are now demanding action, but union leaders said rates are similar in the private sector.

Tory MSP Liz Smith said: "It is time to get a grip on absenteeism in the public sector, which is costing hundreds of millions of pounds.

"We must introduce a new target for sickness absence rates for each devolved public body. Until we take these simple but effective steps, these figures will only get worse."

The figures cover local councils, the Scottish Government, NHS boards and the police. The number of staff facing disciplinary action reached 3,575 in 2010-11, more than double the 1,717 the previous year.

The number of staff dismissed last year was 624, although this was down on the 781 who were axed in 2009-10 - but a significant rise on the 561 from three years previously.

The number of working days lost through sickness has remained well above the three million mark over the past five years, but they fell from 3.9 million in 2006-7 to 3.2 million last year.

The estimated cost of days lost through sickness has also jumped, from 125.6m in 2006-7 to 148m last year, although this is down from 156.2m in 2009-10.

The cost to one health board alone, NHS Lothian, was 171m over the past five years. South Lanarkshire Council lost 84.5m over the same period.

Liberal Democrat health spokeswoman Alison McInnes said: "There seems to be a cultural malaise within the public sector that over the years has resulted in managers turning a blind eye to these growing levels of absenteeism and sickness. The dire state of public finances surely means that this must now be changed."

In councils alone, the cost has been just over 200m over the past five years among the 23 councils who responded to The Scotsman.There were also 10,250,874 days lost over this period, with 5,425 disciplinary actions taken against staff and 2,238 dismissals.

A spokesman for local government body, Cosla, insisted the figures show that councils are "improving year on year" in their efforts to address the issue.

"Councils realise that it is only by having a properly skilled, motivated, fit and healthy workforce that services can be delivered to the highest possible standard and that is why this has become a priority," he said. "Thenumber number of disciplinary actions and dismissals are evidence that where there are seen to be problems councils are acting"

But STUC assistant secretary Ian Tasker said: "The inappropriate and unnecessary use of disciplinary procedures to address with injury and ill health in the workplace is extremely concerning.

"The number of people losing their jobs as a consequence of illness or injury in the workplace highlights the failure of employers to provide occupational health support where it is evidently required."