The Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) the largest employer in central government with over 25% of civil servants has the worst public sector record for absence, bar the Prison Service.

A report by the National Audit Office (NAO) shows that on any given day 5% of the Department’s staff can be absent.

In 2003-04, the DWP racked up an average sickness absence record of 12.6 days per person while 70% of time off is for a month or more.

The DWP have pointed the figure to part-time, female and lower-graded employees as key contributors for the high sickness rates.

The majority of staff they say are in the most junior grades, and 28%, mostly women, work part-time.

Regional differences also account for rising absence levels, according to the Department.

In Jobcentre Plus, absence at district level ranged from 8.7 to 18.4 average working days lost, and there was a similar range of performance across Child Support Agency business units and Pension Centres.

Despite the introduction of new attendance management policies as part of a range of human resource policy developments, including changes to leave arrangements, discipline and performance appraisal the NAO say that more can be done.

HR have missed the target set for 2004 to reduce absence to an average of ten days per member of staff and the goal to get it down to six days by 2006 looks unlikely to be met.

Rising absence costs are forcing the issues further up the agenda. The cost of salary payments to those on sickness absence in 2003-04 was around £100 million, 3.6% of the Department’s total salary costs. The Department expected to reduce its staff members by 30,000 full-time equivalents by 2008 making the issues even more acute.

Sir John Bourn Head of the NAO commented:

“The Department’s absence rate is high and has not yet been reduced by the introduction of a new policy. There are no easy solutions, particularly at a time when the Department is undergoing a heavy programme of change, but the Department needs to do more to ensure that the good attendance management procedures it has introduced are adopted by all staff and managers across the organisation.”