A NEW £367,000 occupational health contract will look to improve attendance at Scottish Borders Council, says leader David Parker.
Cheshire-based People Asset Management (PAM) has taken on the four-year contract to help SBC implement policies to maintain the health of its 5,500 employees.
Last month, The Southern reported that teachers had been off for 500 more days due to stress in 2012/13 than the previous year.
But Mr Parker said: “The council is committed to supporting employees in managing and improving attendance and the provision of efficient occupational health support is critical to that process.”
PAM beat two other firms for the contract, which was previously held by Capita.
Despite NHS Borders offering an occupational health service, Mr Parker said they did not bid for the work and he believed did not offer everything the council was looking for.
Mr Parker added: “The annual cost for providing a comprehensive occupational health service to SBC employees will be £91,869.
“This is our estimate of what we anticipate to spend, but it could be that the actual costs are less, depending on the volume of work that is referred.”