Public sectors workers took an average of 12.4 days off sick last year - adding up to an extraordinary total of 86,960 days lost.

The latest annual report by the Public Services Commission, to be laid before Tynwald next week, says management of sickness absence remains a key priority for the Manx government.

It also reveals that the number of public sector workers has actually risen under the present administration, although it fell back slightly last year.

The average level of sickness absence for 2018-19 was 12.4 days lost per full time equivalent, which is down 6% compared with the previous year figure of 13.23.

This totalled 86,960.79 days lost in the 12 months up to the end of March. The total cost of this staff absence was £9,388,162.

The number of days lost per month averaged 1.04 and the percentage of worktime lost was 5%.

More than 27% of all absence was due to stress (both personal and work related) followed by musculoskeletal issues at 16.5%.

Some 50% of the workforce had no sickness absence during the 12 months andï?· 78% of the time lost can be attributed to 11% of the workforce.

The report notes that the Office of Human Resources delivers targeted intervention within departments to reduce sickness levels.

It says work is being undertaken to support staff by reducing the negative impact of stress and training managers and staff on managing stress and promoting improved mental health.

The number of employees in post, full-time equivalent, was 7,829 in 2011 but this figure fell steadily to 7,279 in 2015 but then climbed again, to 7,466 in 2018 but dipped to 7,413 in at the end of March this year.

That figure excludes those in bank, supply, relief and casual posts.

At the time of the last census in 2016, 21% of the working population were employed in the public sector, down 3% in comparison to the 2006 census.

Government employment as a percentage of total employment is 30% in Norway, 21.4% in France and 16.4% in the UK.

The Public Services Commission is responsible for about 4,000 civil servants and manual and craft workers.

Latest statistics from the Office of National Statistics show an equivalent of 4.4 days per worker were lost through sickness or injury in the UK in 2018.

The sickness absence rate stood at 2.0% in 2018. Rates for workers within the public and private sector stood at 2.7% and 1.8% respectively in 2018. The rate for public sector employees has been consistently higher than the private sector employees since 1995.