Gateshead Council chiefs are expected to sign off on work to help lower sickness absences and improve staff well-being amid an ageing workforce.
The local authority’s cabinet is set to gather next week to approve, among other reports, to help support staff’s health and wellbeing following reports that 26% of staff are aged between 46 and 55 years, and prone to musculoskeletal problems. An earlier report from September also revealed that musculoskeletal problems, alongside post-op recovery, and stress, anxiety and depression, are the top three causes of work absences within the council.
According to the stats from the earlier September report, the percentage of sick days taken and their attributable cause from 2023/24 are as follows:
- non-work-related stress, anxiety, and depression: 34.43%
- post-op recovery: 14.01%
- musculoskeletal problems: 12.89%
Gateshead Council’s ‘workforce wellbeing strategy’ documents also go on to state that employees over 40 often have several caring responsibilities, longer hours to fit in around home routines, and increased isolation, sometimes due to working from home.
Council documents state: “It is vital that managers are alive to the pressures
faced by particular age groups, and they regularly check in with team members making wellbeing a focus of one-to-ones.”
The documents also acknowledge that a lack of “well-being support and understanding” can lead to long-term sickness absence and staff leaving employment, negatively impacting an employee’s income and quality of life.
Councillor Martin Gannon, Leader of Gateshead Council, said: “The new employee wellbeing strategy reflects our belief that our people are our greatest asset and our commitment to being an employer of choice. Everyone’s wellbeing matters and we’ll work together to help individuals thrive at work.
“Our ambition is to create a healthy, content, resilient and productive workforce that delivers quality services for each other and Gateshead’s communities.”
