GLASGOW LIFE ATTENDANCE MANAGEMENT Final Report INTERNAL AUDIT April 2013 Glasgow City Council Internal Audit 1
GLASGOW LIFE Attendance Management Table of Contents Section No Section Title 1 Introduction and Background 2 Audit Remit 3 Audit Opinion 4 Conclusions 5 Recommendations Action Plan Glasgow City Council Internal Audit 1
GLASGOW LIFE Attendance Management 1. Introduction and Background As part of the agreed programme of work for 2012/13, Internal Audit has undertaken a review of the arrangements in place to manage the attendance process at Glasgow Life. In quarter 3 2012/13, Glasgow Life reported an absence rate of 4.5%, against a target rate of 3.5% for employee s absence. 2. Audit Remit The purpose of the audit was to gain assurance that Glasgow Life has effective arrangements for the management and control of attendance including adherence to relevant policies. The scope of the audit included testing of controls in operation to ensure that: Glasgow Life has adequate attendance management procedures, effectively communicated to all staff with appropriate training provided. Procedures are being consistently applied in relation to the recording and management of reported absences. Glasgow Life proactively measures absence and seeks improvement, with adequate arrangements in place for recording and reporting on attendance. The audit was carried out at the Glasgow Life head office and at the following venues visited during the course of the audit: Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) Glasgow Club Donald Dewar Easterhouse Pool Pollok Pool South Glasgow Local Area office Glasgow City Council Internal Audit 2
3. Audit Opinion Based on the audit work carried out a reasonable level of assurance can be placed upon the control environment. The audit has identified some scope for improvement in the existing arrangements and 3 recommendations which management should address. 4. Conclusions The main conclusions reached during the audit were as follows: Glasgow Life has an adequate attendance management policy and procedures which have been effectively communicated to all staff. Attendance levels are monitored and are reported to senior management on a regular basis. Regular contact is maintained with employees who have been absent long-term and the methods applied by Glasgow Life to improve attendance rates and the returns to work process have been consistent with the policy. Processes are in place to identify individuals with particular attendance problems. For the sample of employees reviewed, actions taken at formal interviews and disciplinary hearings were acceptable and consistent with the policy. There are discrepancies between the information contained in the Employee Absence Summary Report and the information contained within the Absence Management System in operation at Glasgow Life. This included cases where employees had returned to work and gone through the normal process but this was not reflected in the Employee Absence Summary Report. The managers in the sample had all completed the required attendance management training however this had not been reflected in their training records. 5. Recommendations Resulting from the conclusions, 3 medium priority recommendations for improvement was identified. These recommendations and the organisation s responses are shown below. Glasgow City Council Internal Audit 3
Title of the Audit: Risk Ratings for Recommendations High Key controls absent, not being operated as designed or could be improved. Urgent attention required. Medium Less critically important controls absent, not being operated as designed or could be improved. Low Lower level controls absent, not being operated as designed or could be improved. No. Audit Recommendations Priority Accepted Comments (if appropriate) Key Control: There are appropriate systems of reporting management information on attendance Officer Responsible for Timescale for 1 Glasgow Life must investigate the discrepancies found between the information contained within the Absence Management Systems and the Employee Absence Summary Report generated from the Absence Management System. 2 Glasgow Life must receive assurances from Customer and Business Services that future absence information produced from the Absence Management Systems is accurate. Medium Yes The reports provided to Audit were from the old J McCormack Completed AMS System as the reporting function on the Time Management System on SAP was not fully available. The TMS is now fully operational Medium Yes See above J McCormack Completed Glasgow City Council Internal Audit 4 Glasgow Life - Attendance Management
Title of the Audit: (continued) No. Audit Recommendations Priority Accepted Comments (if appropriate) Officer Responsible for Key Control: Staff operating the attendance management have received training which is regularly refreshed Timescale for 3 Glasgow Life must ensure that a record of all attendance management training is maintained on employee s SAP HR records. Medium Yes Will coordinate with our Learning and Development team to review the process for updating SAP records J McCormack End of May Glasgow City Council Internal Audit 5 Glasgow Life - Attendance Management