Thursday June 18th 2026
Glasgow Council chamber
Written by Local Democracy Reporter, Catherine Hunter
Concerns over the number of staff in Glasgow City Council absent from work have been raised by a local councillor.
It comes as a report presented to members of the finance and scrutiny committee states that absence as a result of sickness remains higher than expected.
The council continues to implement its attendance management policies including its “supporting attendance” policy which aims to support employees to maintain high levels of attendance and minimise the detrimental effects of sickness absence on its service provision, citizens and colleagues.
It also recognises that employees will experience periods of ill health from time to time which will result in absences from work.
In many cases, these will be short spells of illness from which employees quickly recover from and in others there may be more significant health problems requiring prolonged treatment and time away from the workplace.
Speaking at the scrutiny meeting, Bailie Jim Kavanagh said: “Our absence is absolutely horrendous and in the NRS it is up by something like 23%.
“Nobody can function on that level of andsence within this council. I have raised this for the past eight years so this is not just a new thing that has cropped up, we aren’t addressing it.
“Whatever way we window dress it, when you see the levels of absenteeism, it is horrendous, absolutely horrendous.”
A council officer said: “I am not going to comment on any other service but in my particular area we are managing that.
“We do have a couple of long term absences which is not ideal in a small team like that and we do take the hit and it is difficult to manage.
“We are working with colleagues in HR to do the best we can and try and get people back to work safely and when they are fit to do so.”
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