Glasgow City Council paid out £55 million in sick pay to staff in a single year, according to figures released under a Freedom of Information request. The sum, totalling £54,753,213, was paid to core workers including teachers in the financial year ending March 31.
Scotland's largest local authority is facing a financial blackhole caused by an escalating homelessness emergency and a long-standing equal pay dispute. Council chiefs have previously been warned that a rising number of staff are taking time off due to stress-related sickness amid fears frontline workers are being stretched to their limits.
Labour leader criticises SNP administration
Rashid Hussian, leader of the Labour group on Glasgow City Council, said: "A £55 million sick pay bill is a staggering figure and another warning sign that something is seriously wrong with the way the SNP administration is managing Glasgow’s workforce."
"Council workers have been expected to deliver essential services under enormous pressure, while the SNP has presided over staffing pressures, high absence levels and continuing uncertainty over pay and grading. The recent threat of fire and rehire has only added to that instability."
"The SNP cannot simply shrug its shoulders at a £55 million bill and carry on as normal. They need to explain what is driving these absence levels and what they are doing to improve morale, working conditions and support for staff."
Pay deal negotiations ongoing
The revelation comes as council bosses were locked in discussions with Unison and the Scottish Government in a bid to finally agree a controversial pay deal. Local authority bosses faced a backlash earlier this month after they initially threatened to sack 23,000 workers and rehire them on amended contracts if a new pay structure could not be agreed.
Members of Unite and the GMB have already agreed to ballot their members on the deal, but Unison has held out for improved terms. The Record understands that councillors were this week briefed that if a deal cannot be agreed the council faces the prospect of administration.
Unison stands firm
The local authority is seeking to bring in a new pay structure after the previous one was found to discriminate against female workers. But Unison has raised concerns that some staff still do not know what their wage would be under the new system, and some will be worse off.
A row over the fire-and-rehire plans prompted the Scottish Government to become involved, with Unison Glasgow city branch secretary Chris Sermanni saying this had "created further opportunity to get this right".
He added: "Unison stood firm because the previous package wasn’t good enough for Glasgow’s workers. We welcome every additional penny we have secured. But our job isn’t simply to get any deal over the line, it’s to fight for the best deal we can achieve before Unison members are asked to make their decision in a ballot."
"Many workers are due substantial and long-overdue increases, and we want them to receive every penny they are owed. But we also have workers facing significant losses and thousands of members whose outcomes remain unresolved. We will not leave them behind."
A Glasgow City Council spokesman said: "Any employer will want to maximise attendance – but it is important to recognise that legitimate and necessary absences are part of supporting staff with their health and wellbeing."
"The provision of occupational sick pay does not constitute an additional cost to the council, over and above its wage bill – so a reduction does not, in itself, directly affect the council’s overall financial position. Clearly, though, where additional resources are brought in to cover absences, this can carry an additional cost and, in all circumstances, there is a benefit in staff being available to work."
