IN ANY work situation, excessive sick leave is symptomatic of underlying human resource issues that might be persisting either without satisfactory resolution or sometimes unrecognised by management.

IN ANY work situation, excessive sick leave is symptomatic of underlying human resource issues that might be persisting either without satisfactory resolution or sometimes unrecognised by management.

Hence the concerns over the South African Police Service annual report which revealed that 1,2 million working days were lost through sick leave taken by police officers last year - about eight days a member.

This, according to a report, cost the taxpayer a staggering R536million in leave mostly taken by highly skilled members of the force.

Underlying causes for the excessive leave, such as overwork and stress-related complaints, are not new. In fact, these problems have dogged the SAPS for a long time as it contends with case backlogs, manpower and equipment shortages.

Of all the problems related to poor working conditions, meagre police salaries pose the biggest challenge to the government.