National Assembly out-performs private sector in sickness absence

22 October 2012

The National Assembly’s reputation as an exemplar employer, which provides a family-friendly and positive environment in which to work, has been further cemented by a report into levels of sickness absence.

According to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) report, the Assembly outperforms the average rates in both the public and private sectors.

During the 12 months ending 31 December 2011, the Assembly’s figures for days absent due to sickness was 5.7 per full-time employee, compared to the 8.2 days average for the public sector (non-profit organisations) and 6 days in the manufacturing and production sector, with the same level of performance when compared with the private service sector.

However, when compared to similar-sized organisations, with between 250 and 999 employees, the Assembly also beats the service sector.

“These figures are a further demonstration that the Assembly is an exemplar of best practice as an employer.” said the Assembly’s Chief Executive and Clerk of the Assembly, Claire Clancy.

“In the past 12 months, we have been placed in the top 10 family-friendly places to work along with leading FTSE 100 companies, and been named in the top 20 gay-friendly places to work in the UK.

“We also have a Gold Standard award from Investors in People. So it is clear that the National Assembly for Wales is a welcoming place to work where equality and staff development are central to our strategies in delivering an exemplar parliamentary service for Members and the people of Wales.

“But at the end of the day, people want to come to work because of the colleagues they work with and the managers they work to, so credit must go to all of the Assembly’s staff who clearly make Wales’s law-making body a happy and enjoyable place to work.”