Bill Bowkett
Published:
2:10 PM March 10, 2021
Updated:
2:11 PM March 10, 2021
Anxiety, depression and stress are now the most common reasons for sicknesses in the last five years for Islington Council
- Credit: Ken Mears
Islington Council staff had nearly 10,000 sick days due to poor mental health last year, new figures reveal.
Data obtained under Freedom of Information (FOI) laws shows mental health conditions are responsible for the most time off had by the local authority s employees, accounting for 23.4 per cent of sick days in 2020.
The figure is around double the national average for both local authority employees and workers in all types of roles - in 2018 the Office for National Statistics (ONS) found mental health accounted for 12.4pc of illness leave across all workplaces and the UK average for those in a public sector role missing work due to a mental health condition was 10.2pc.