South NorthamptonshireCouncil Review

Data Period January to November 2008

Agenda

• Executive Summary

• Absence Analysis – 2008

• NCC Statistics

• Recommendations

Executive Summary

• 45% reduction in absence rate YoY (2007/2008)• Net cost savings of £116,992 YoY (2007/2008) • Absence reduction has given you an additional 1239 working days

available in YTD for 2008 • Number of spells has decreased by 28% YoY and the average spell length

has reduced by 38%

Absence TrendSouth Northants absence rate has decreased year on year with a significant absence reduction year on year for 2007 and 2008.

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Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov

Company 2007 Company 2008

Absence Rate Year on Year

Your average absence rate for 2008 was 2.52%. Comparing this to your absence rate in 2007 at 4.59%, there has been an absence reduction of 45%. Your absence trend is also bucking seasonal trends.A sharp increase in September can be attributed to an increase in gastro absences. November’s increase is mainly attributed to infection and musculoskeletal absence spells.

Cost SavingsYour reduction in absence rate has resulted in savings of £116,992. Another way of considering this is the reduction in absence has given you an additional 1239 working days in 2008 to date. This will have direct effect on your productivity and delivery of services to your customers.

Annual Payroll Costs and Costs of Absence

No of Employees

Annual Average Salary Total Payroll costs Current Absence rates Annual Cost of Absence*

£ £ % £South Northants Council 263 22,000 6,653,900 4.59 305,414

Equivalent to 10.47 days per annum per employee* Key Assumptions

Total Payroll Costs Includes uplift of 15% for employers NI etc. Annual working days lost to unplanned employee absenceSick Pay Ratio 100% (Average percentage of salary paid) 2752 Overtime Cover Ratio 0% (Proportion of absence requiring cover) Marginal Cost Ratio 0% (Extra cost of overtime)

Cost/Benefit Analysis of AHP Service - ROI

Roll-out Reduction of absence rates

Daily Cost Absence £1,340 10% 45% 30%Reduction Ach. 07 v 08

Monthly Cost of Absence £25,451

Gross Monthly Saving £2,545 £11,453 £7,635

Typical Monthly AHP Cost £6.50 £1,710 £1,710 £1,710

Typical Net Savings Per Month £836 £9,744 £5,926 1 Year Net Saving £10,027 £116,922 £71,110

Extra working days (increased productivity) 1239

Client

(Cost divided by 12)

Annualised Spells

Year Number of Spells

2007 672

2008 482

Year Average length of spell

2007 4.7

2008 2.9

• The number of annualised spells per employee sits at 2.04 per employee for 2008• The number of spells year on year has decreased by 28%•The average length of spell has dropped significantly from 4.7 days to 2.9 days – a 38% decrease• Your short term long term ratio sits at 67%:33%

Length of Spell 5+ to 7 days 7+ to 15 days 15+ to 28 days 28+ days2008 vs 2007 50% Reduction 21% Reduction 40% Reduction 60% Reduction

Absence Spells across the Week

This table illustrates how employees absence spells are distributed across the week. A clear pattern emerges when employees start their absence based on spell length.

Absence Spells 01.01.08 - 30.11.08 Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

1 Day 35.95   10.46 15.03 23.53 1.31

2 Day 35.79 13.68 12.63 34.74 3.16  

3 Day 21.05 13.16 57.89 2.63 5.26  

4 Day 18.18 59.09   9.09 13.64  

5 Day 75.00 6.25 18.75      

Top Ten Reasons for Spells by Category

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Gastroi

ntestin

al

Infect

ion

Non Med

ical R

eason

Musculo

skelet

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Neurol

ogica

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Respira

tory

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es an

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oning

Dental

Mental

Health

Company Sector

Gastro and Infection are your top two reasons for spells. Non medical absences sit significantly higher than the sector. The primary reasons employees are giving for taking non-medical spells are childcare and family care.

Annualised Working Days Lost

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Company

Your annualised working days lost per employee equates to 7.22. This is below the CIPD Local Government sector rate which sits at 8.5 WDL per employee.If you consider your manual workers separately, annualised working days lost sits at 13.44. The top three reasons for working days lost for this group are mental health, gastro and neurological.

CIPD Local Govt Sector

Rate

Working Days Lost by Category

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ntestin

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ovascu

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tory

Non Medi

cal Reas

on

Company Sector

Mental Health, Infection and Gastro are your top thee reasons for working days lost. Focus should be placed on the areas where South Northants is higher than the AHP sector average.There was a sharp increase in September for Gastro with over 40 WDL recorded.Mental Health accounts for the largest number of working days lost. There were 10 spells recorded due to Mental Health in 2008. One spell was for over 200 days which explains the high number of WDL.

Mental Health by Category

AnxietyDepression

Exhaustion

FatigueStress

NCC Statistics

NCC Stats 01.01.08 - 30.11.08

Calls Received

Average Answer Speed (secs)

Average Talk Time

Answered within 30 secs

Answered within 60 secs

% Within 60 secs

J an-08 177 28 03:21 139 14 86%Feb-08 107 25 03:45 87 4 85%Mar-08 94 17 03:37 84 2 91%Apr-08 82 29 03:20 64 6 85%May-08 92 28 03:34 68 10 85%J un-08 86 42 03:06 59 8 78%J ul-08 92 30 03:15 72 6 85%

Aug-08 111 35 03:15 89 5 85%Sep-08 127 38 03:41 92 6 77%Oct-08 110 26 03:04 92 4 87%Nov-08 148 30 02:54 113 9 82%

• 84% of calls to the NCC are answered within 60 seconds• Average call to answer speed is 29 seconds• Average talk time is 3.21 seconds

Recommendations

Key Recommendations for 2009 to continue absence reduction:

• Complete Return to Work Interviews and manage triggers online within AHP-Today. Research shows that return to work interviews and triggers are one of the most effective ways to manage absence. Managing these online ensures all absence management information is held in one secure location and provides a robust audit trail. • Reports usage for managers. Managers should review the employees individual absence record before completing a Return to Work Interview. This will allow managers to better understand trends and absence behaviour patterns in their areas.• Integrate AHP with your OH provider to enable early intervention by Occupational Health. Early intervention can typically reduce the likelihood of an absence becoming long term.