Although rates are falling, mental health struggles remain a major reason council staff take sick leave
mental health struggles are a major contributor to sick days taken in Gateshead Council(Image: PA)
Stress, depression, and anxiety continue to be the leading causes of sick leave in Gateshead Council employees, despite falling rates. Recovering from operations and musculoskeletal problems are the second and third respectively.
An ageing workforce has been highlighted as a reason behind the high levels of absences for these issues. According to the local authority’s annual health and safety report, while the percentage of stress, anxiety, and depression related absences has fallen it still accounts for over a quarter of sick days.
The percentage breakdown of sick leave data for 2024/25 is as follows:
Post-op recovery: 15%Musculoskeletal problems: 11%Stress, anxiety, depression (work and non-work related): 26%
The sick leave data for 2023/24 is as follows:
Post-op recovery: 14%Musculoskeletal problems: 13%Stress, anxiety, depression (work and non-work related): 34%
Stress, depression and anxiety and musculoskeletal issues accounted for 16.4m and 7.8m lost days of work in 2023/24 across the UK, according to the Health and Safety Executive.
The report states: “The council has an ageing workforce with a significant number of employees being at age 50 years old and above and as such it is no surprise that post op recovery and musculoskeletal reasons for absence remain high.”
The council’s most recent profile on its 5,129 workers, not including schools, found that 42% are aged between 51-70 years of age. In 2022, Gateshead councillors expressed their concerns about the age of employees and the struggles to recruit workers following the publication of an age profile report.
In particular, the council’s environmental, property and adult social care teams were identified as having significant numbers of employees aged 55 and older. The council had previously signed-off a work-stress risk assessment to help employees and local authority departments. The council’s health and safety team are now joining forces with internal HR for a broader review of sickness absences.
Join our Breaking News and Top Stories WhatsApp community
Join our Breaking News and Top Stories WhatsApp community for all the latest news direct to your phone.
To join you need to have WhatsApp on your device. All you need to do is choose which community you want to join, click on the link and press ‘join community’.
No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the ChronicleLive team.
We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners.
If you don’t like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose ‘exit group’.
If you’re curious, you can read our privacy notice.