Chief Minister calls for end to "horrifying" number of sick days

Fri, 16 Dec 2011

Chief Minister Allan Bell MHK

The Chief Minister says he's horrified by the amount of sick days taken by Government workers.

Allan Bell has called for a review of the system for absence amongst public sector workers.

It was revealed this week that sickness cost the Government around £13.7 million last year in lost working days.

The figure represents around 4.6% of all salaries and wages.

The average Government worker took 8.4 days off ill, compared with 8.1 days for UK workers.

Mr Bell says there needs to be a more rigorous system in place [play clip]