Council staff two weeks on sick

warmhands.coldheart

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/7818663.stm

Well done to council staff in ripping of the rate payer.

Quote from Brian Campfield of the public service union Nipsa..

"You have to remember that many council employees work outdoors in all weathers, and they are subject to quite a bit of pressure from the public from different sectors of society,"

Boo !!!!!!! Hoo.. Like that is some justificatin for pulling a sicky... What about all the Farmers, Construction Workers, Road Workers. NIE linesmen, Fishermen etc.. etc.. who work outside in crap weather... they can't go pulling sickies "cause it's cold & wet!!" Part of the job...

Dry your eyes you big jessy!!.. About time these people wake up and get into the real world...

No private sector business would still be trading if staff pulled sickies at this rate. they couldn't survive. Why should we as taxpayers have to tolerate this??

Pythagorous

I know its an absolute disgrace, that some poeple think its ok to do this. Its being discussed on U105 at the moment. Apparently Larne averages more than 4 weeks of sickies per annum per employee. Sad reflection on some areas of society.

Parisien

Oh...please.....such self-righteous indignation.......

This is plainly a management issue, failure to keep a close eye on their employees, failure to involve, failure to inspire them, up-date their skills, make them want to be a part of a team, feel cherished.............

Don't for one second think the private sector is any better.......I know lots who do exactly the same as public sector workers............

PS I think its a "disgrace" too........

maninthestreet

Parisien wrote: »

Oh...please.....such self-righteous indignation.......

This is plainly a management issue, failure to keep a close eye on their employees, failure to involve, failure to inspire them, up-date their skills, make them want to be a part of a team, feel cherished.............

Don't for one second think the private sector is any better.......I know lots who do exactly the same as public sector workers............

PS I think its a "disgrace" too........

The private sector is better - on average, a private sector work takes 5.8 days off sick a year, whilst a public sector worker takes 9 days. It's estimated that £1.4bn of taxpayers' money could be saved if public sector organisations matched the private sector average.

Pythagorous

You beat me to it maninthestreet.

@ Parisien...I'm presuming your "such self-righteous indignation" comment was meant tongue in cheek.

warmhands.coldheart

Parisien wrote: »

This is plainly a management issue, failure to keep a close eye on their employees, failure to involve, failure to inspire them, up-date their skills, make them want to be a part of a team, feel cherished..............

Again...Welcome to the real world!!

Nearly 4 years in my job.. (Privarte Sector) No training, crap managment, same crap every day, same problems constantly arising as they are never resolved...

I'm afraid it's something you have to live with... it's a job.. it pays the bills & keeps a roof over my head... why should people working in the Civil service feel they deserve anything better?? (yes all you mention is all pretty basic and just good practice but then as there seems to be absolutely NO accountablility within the Civil Service it'll never change)

If you know lots who do this in the Private Sector I'd be supprised they are still in Jobs... Sickness rates can be used against you if a company requires to make redundancies!!

As for "such self-righteous indignation" It's my bloody rates and taxes paying these idiots so I think I have a right to have a moan!!

wifeforlife

warmhands.coldheart wrote: »

Again...Welcome to the real world!!

Nearly 4 years in my job.. (Privarte Sector) No training, crap managment, same crap every day, same problems constantly arising as they are never resolved... Same as me only I work in the public sector, 6 years in service, Trained on the job, constant monitoring of new ideas and training needs, same crap from the public, same problems just not with staff or employer, the public is the only problem I encounter, problems are not the same for me as they are investigated and resolutions found to move things forward

I'm afraid it's something you have to live with... it's a job.. it pays the bills & keeps a roof over my head... why should people working in the Civil service feel they deserve anything better?? We dont think we deserve anything better compared to the private sector, we want better for our workers compared to other civil service departments and opposed to council workers(yes all you mention is all pretty basic and just good practice but then as there seems to be absolutely NO accountablility within the Civil Service it'll never change)

If you know lots who do this in the Private Sector I'd be supprised they are still in Jobs... Sickness rates can be used against you if a company requires to make redundancies!!

As for "such self-righteous indignation" It's my bloody rates and taxes paying these idiots so I think I have a right to have a moan!![/quote]

Are you one of the few that are paying rates? Also these idiots as you call them, me included and I'm certainly not an idiot also pay 'bloody' rates and taxes.

What you dont seem to get is the media are fantastic at creating hype around the public service, yes the levels are high in comparison to the private sector but you cant compare the two like for like and trying to do so is in my opinion idiotic

Pythagorous

cathy2702 wrote: »

Also these idiots as you call them, me included

I think the op was referring to civil servants/council workers who are regularly taking sickies at the expense of the tax payer, not all civil servants/council workers when he used the term 'idiot'. IMO the stats imply that there must be a much higher % of people falling into this category in the public sector compared to the private sector.

Would you still clasify yourself as one of these?

warmhands.coldheart

[quote=cathy2702;17482261_Also_these_idiots_as_you_call_them,_me_included_and_I'm_certainly_not_an_idiot_also_pay_'bloody'_rates_and_taxes._[/quote]

Not taring everyone.. My sister & friends work in Civil Service. refering to Idiots, I refer to the lazy asses who are pulling sickies at tax payers expense...

and yes the media are fantastic at creating hype around the public service.. but I think rightly so.. seems they are the only ones scrutinizing them and are the only ones who can publisise this...

If the councils & powers that be were seen to be doing something about it then maybe it wouldn't be such an issue... and it has been an issue quite a few times in the past years or two...

PS... My job involves working with the "Public" and trust me I know where your comming from.... In my job the "Public" constantly think they have "Rights" and if they break something through their own stupidity then they should get a new one or their money back! Oh and if they order something and it doesn't do what they "Thought it should do" then they should get their money back!! even though it isn't damaged and works perfectly (Stems from the Tesco & B&Q generation.... money back, no questions....)

wifeforlife

Pythagorous wrote: »

I think the op was referring to civil servants/council workers who are regularly taking sickies at the expense of the tax payer, not all civil servants/council workers when he used the term 'idiot'. IMO the stats imply that there must be a much higher % of people falling into this category in the public sector compared to the private sector.

Would you still clasify yourself as one of these?

I know what the OP was implying but he/she needs to be more direct and specify who he's on a rant about

You cant lump council workers and civil servants together, if your going down that route you would need to include many other workers, nurses included.

Also think about the 14 days in real terms, the media are clever in how they word this. 14 days implies to people something like a 2 week holiday but in real terms, it could be I have flu in January and take 1 working week off, I may have food poisoning for 1/2 days in May and then maybe a flu or cold in December with another working week off. Obviously I'm only speculating but instead of falling for the media hype lets think about it before going nuts.

I do agree the levels are high but also remember there could be less people taking one or two days off and those people on longterm sickness also impacts on the overall levels and statistics.

Also how do we deal with it?? Whats the solution?? I personally think this year the sickness levels will be higher in all sectors as people struggle to deal with life in the 'credit crunch', stress and depression will be at there highest.

Witless

I wonder how council staff & Civil Servants compare with MLAs when it comes to attendance / value for money?