SOCIAL services workers in Liverpool have taken a total of 78 years off work sick – in just the first nine months of 2009.

Staff sickness total 28,727 days off between January and September according to a Freedom of Information request submitted to Liverpool City Council.

That’s 12.7 days per staff member in the department.

If the trends continue staff will hit 17 days off each by Christmas time.

That compares to the national average of just 6.4 days per private sector employee and 9.7 days for those in the public sector, like social workers, according to the most recent figures for the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), a global body which represents managers.

In their July study of national sickness levels they found that sick days have gone down since the recession began, with staff fearful of job cuts seeking to make themselves indispensable.

They found North West workers took an average of 7.7 days off, more than the national average of 6.6, while public sector workers in local Government weighed in at 10.7 days.

That is almost a whole week below the number Liverpool City Council’s social services workers seem to be headed for.

The average number of sick days in 2008/9 for the 2,254 staff in the social services department was 14.87 (April to April) compared to just 11.43 days in 2007/8.

But a council spokesman defended the sickness levels among staff, saying: “Social work is an extremely demanding, high pressure and challenging job, and in Liverpool and across the rest of the country there is a higher level of sickness in social services than in other council departments.

“We are working hard to support all of our staff, and have launched special drop-in clinics where any employee can get advice and support if they are feeling stressed or worried.