SO the council policy to reduce staff sickness has failed to reach its targets, and in many cases stress is a cause.

And no wonder. As an ex-council employee, I'm not at all surprised.

This is how it worked.

If you were off sick, on the first day you had to phone in, before 9am was preferred; not a spouse or relative, but you personally.

It didn't matter how sick you were, you had to make the call and you had to speak to your manager, you weren't allowed to leave a message (first stress point).

You could self-certify, but after five days a doctor's note had to be submitted (fairly standard procedure) but any time after a few weeks, you could expect a knock on the door from higher management, and an interrogation as to your current state of health and likely return to work (second stress point).

When you did return to work, both you and the manager had to fill in a three-page form and then you had to have a return to work interview.

If this was the second time off sick within a specific period you might then subjected to a fairly unsympathetic interrogation from a member of Human Resources who would grill you about your sickness record (third stress point).

If you were off for more than a certain number of days, say for a heart attack, you couldn’t take any more time off that year or you were given warnings (fourth stress point).

If the council really wants to reduce stress in the employees, for whom they have a duty of care, how about changing the ways in which it is stressing its own staff?

Name and address supplied.