Cost of public sector sick leave falls 10%

The cost of sick leave across the public service has dropped by 10% in just three years — except in the civil service, where it has increased by more than 13%.

Figures released by the Department of Public Expenditure showed that sick leave among the State’s employees cost €447.4m in 2012. That was broken down into €401.4m for certified sick leave and €46m for uncertified leave.

The corresponding total for 2010 was €494m — €433.1m certified and €56.9m uncertified.

Brendan Howlin, the public expenditure minister, said while his department has overarching responsibility for the public service, each individual sector was responsible for sick leave policies for staff in that area.

The reduction achieved varies significantly by sector. In health, which has the biggest numbers in the public service, the cost of certified sick leave has fallen from €212m in 2010 to €197m last year, while uncertified leave has dropped €3m to €26m.

However, the civil service has bucked the trend, experiencing a 13.2% increase in the cost of sick leave, from €52m to €58.9m, in the space of just three years. Certified leave accounts for the bulk of the increase, rising from €46m to €53.5m.

Niall Shanahan of Impact, one of the country’s largest public service unions, said that on an initial examination of the figures, there appeared to be a number of factors at play.

He said that, aside from the implementation of new sick-pay policies under the Croke Park Agreement, there was a sharp reduction in staff numbers in the three-year period and, most significantly for the civil service, a likely increase in the average age because of the recruitment moratorium. Analysts have pointed to a “greying” civil service in recent months.

A department spokesman said some of the savings on sick pay were due to a reduction in pay rates across the public sector over the last number of years. It said there had also been an improvement in the management of sick leave.

“The reform of self-certified sick leave was introduced in Nov 2012 and the reform of certified sick leave is due to come into effect from Jan 1, 2014,” he said.

“It is anticipated that reform of sick leave will result in increased productivity and further reductions in costs associated with sick leave in the future.”

The new measures will see both certified and uncertified sick-leave entitlement halved from Jan 2014 thanks to a binding 2012 recommendation from the Labour Court.

Currently, state employees on normal certified sick leave for non-critical ill-nesses are entitled to six months’ full-pay followed by six months’ half-pay in a rolling four-year period. Those who do not return then receive a pension or rehabilitation rate — an income based on their accrued pension benefits without added years.

However, from Jan 1, the entitlement is to be cut to three months’ full-pay followed by three months’ half-pay, while the rehabilitation rate is to be limited to 18 months.