NEW attendance ‘tzars’ have been credited with reducing the number of sick days taken by Oxford City Council staff – but they still take many more than private sector workers.

New measures to tackle the issue were introduced 12 months ago and figures for last year show the number of days off due to illness fell by 15 per cent.

In 2009/10, staff at the council took an average off 10.71 days of sick compared to 12.56 the year before.

The figure is still above the public sector average at 8.3 days. Sickness rates in the county’s schools is just 4.41 days while the average in the private sector is six days.

But it is comparable with the average number of sick days taken by Oxfordshire hospital staff, at 10 days.

It is the first time the city council’s sickness rate – which topped those of other districts across the county – has fallen in recent years.

Simon Howick, the city council’s head of human resources, who joined the authority 18 months ago, said he was pleased with progress so far – but said there was still work to be done.

He said city councillors had made it very clear tackling absenteeism was top of their list of priorities.

Mr Howick said a number of policies and measures had been introduced, including appointing 16 attendance ‘tzars’ across the council.

The tzars, who are all existing members of staff, have been used to ensure all managers are addressing sickness levels and carrying out the correct procedures such as back-to-work interviews.

Mr Howick said: “They are charged with championing our policies.”

The council has also introduced new training for managers to help them deal with sickness and staff who return to work.

Mr Howick said a new occupational health service had also been set up to look at the issue of those with longer term injuries or conditions.

He added: “Rather than focus on what employees can’t do, they have focused on what they can do to get people back into work.”

But the council admits it still has work to do on the issue and is targeting further reductions in sickness.

Mr Howick said: “I would hope to see it come down to eight days.

“We’re not there yet but we are moving in the right direction.”

He added: “Five hundred of our workforce are doing hard, physical jobs and they will have more sickness than those employed in office jobs.”

cburatta@oxfordmail.co.uk