Absent without leave: a gender perspective on the management of staff sickness in social services

This article is concerned with the management of sickness absence and its implications for women staff. Changes in the management of sickness absence in a London local authority are outlined and considered in relation to the predominantly female staffing profile of the organization, and to women's work roles, health needs and stress factors, in the light of research on the Social Services workforce (Balloch et al., 1995, 1998). It is argued that the approach to managing sickness absence in the local authority has disproportionate effects on women and that it undermines other goals of the organization. It is suggested that the causes of absence have been ignored in favour of symptomatic action, that in the interests of an effective workforce links between absence and stress should be addressed and that gender roles should be considered explicitly in policy-making and workforce planning.