While there was a slight bump in absenteeism among city employees last year, there was no real cause for concern.
Figures on employee absenteeism across the city's unionized groups show city workers missed an average of 61.8 hours of work due to illness in 2016. That's a minor increase from the average 60.4 hours of work missed in 2015.
Council received the report by Human Resources boss Veronica McAlea Major on Tuesday. It states "appropriate, focused, and strategic action has been taken to reduce the level of paid sick leave in the workplace."
The numbers are a substantial improvement over 2007 when the absentee rate climbed to an average of 74.8 hours per employee. Over the past nine years, the reduction in sick time has results in over $1-million per year less being paid to employees in sick leave benefits.
"A long term trend is demonstrating that we are making progress in that area," said Mayor Matt Brown. "The programs that are put in place to ensure that our employees are well, are able to be at work, and provide great services to Londoners every single day I think are working."
The most dramatic sick day drop came from Dearness Home workers who went from an average of 66.1 hours in 2015 to 25.7 last year. The average annual sick time for frontline firefighters has remained virtually steady since 2013, around the 100 hour mark.
City managers saw a drop with an average of 37.4 hours in 2016, from 40.3 the previous year.
Brown said fluctuations in absenteeism levels are expected.
"It's important that if an employee is sick then they need to stay home, in any position, anywhere. It's really about being well. Making sure that we have supports and programs in place to ensure that our employees can come to work as often as possible and provide great services to Londoners," said Brown.
