There is a good chance that the PSA would probably have a fit and march in the streets if this was tried here:
All departments in Whitehall are to be forced to publish quarterly sickness absence rates for all their staff in a bid to help the public purse.
Francis Maude, the Cabinet Office minister responsible for the civil service, said “bad management” across the public sector was costing taxpayers £3.4bn a year. He told the Daily Telegraph he was determined to crack down on the so-called “sickie” culture by making central government departments publish the sickness reports and increasing the spotlight on weak management.
“It’s often down to bad management. If you do the stats properly, you can sometimes find clusters of sickness absence which is often associated with a bad manager,” he said.
Official figures show public sector workers are 63pc more likely to go off sick than their private sector counterparts. Mr Maude said the civil service had to get better at measuring the problem. “One of the things we’re introducing is that every department will have to publish, on a quarterly basis, their sickness absence levels, so you can see the trend and can compare,” he said.
The move follows plans announced last week by the Cabinet Office minister to reform the civil service, which includes weeding out poor performers to improve the delivery of public services.
