'Corrosive cycle of overworked and underpaid' Scottish council staff blamed for sickness rise

The warning comes after the public spending watchdog, the Audit Commission, revealed that sickness rates climbed in 25 out of 32 local authorities last year. The rates have soared by 45 per cent since Covid and an average of 4.5 per cent nationally between 2022/23 and 2023/24.

For teaching staff, sickness increased in 27 out of 32 local authorities between 2022/23 and 2023/24, with an average increase of 11.7 per cent across Scotland - a rise of 85 per cent since Covid.

Keir Greenaway, GMB Scotland senior organiser in public services, has suggested that stress, tiredness and mental health has taken an increasing toll on workers after years of austerity and cuts.

READ MORE: Sickness absence among teachers and council staff hits record high over 'breaking point' claims

The union leader warned low pay was also sabotaging recruitment and retention of staff, particularly on the frontline, including services like cleansing and care, where vacancy levels are highest.

Mr Greenaway said: “It is a corrosive cycle of overworked and underpaid staff becoming ill and their absence putting services under even more stress.

“We have repeatedly raised these concerns with councils and [council umbrella body] Cosla in recent years and the need for a long promised minimum wage of £15 an hour becomes more urgent with every day that passes.

“Frontline workers, those actually delivering the services our communities are built on, are hugely and consistently undervalued.”

Mr Greenaway said reducing the working week without loss of pay has also been shown to maintain performance levels while making the understaffed services more attractive to applicants.

READ MORE: Police Scotland 'at breaking point' as scale of officer stress and mental health 'crisis' revealed

A total of 2.65 million days were lost to sickness across local government in 2023/24.

This trend is mirrored in the Scottish Government workforce and NHS Scotland. The latter has reported a sickness absence rate of 6.2 per cent until February last year - its highest level in the past decade.

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Workforce planning is an operational matter for local authorities.

Scottish politics has never been more important - get The Steamie newsletter today

“The Scottish Government has provided councils with a record £15.1 billion this year - a real-terms increase of 5.5 per cent.

“We will continue to work with partners to reform Scotland’s public services to ensure they are financially sustainable and continue to deliver positive outcomes for people and communities.”

In its report published earlier this week, the Accounts Commission had cited stress, mental health and fatigue as key contributors to rising sickness rates.

“The Chartered Institute for Personnel Development’s Working Lives Scotland 2024 report highlights there is a growing unease across the public sector,” the report said.

“There has been a drop in the proportion of public sector employees saying they feel inspired at work and an increase in the proportion of staff feeling detached from their jobs and motivated only in monetary terms.”