To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 16 January 2008, Official Report, column 1381W, on performance appraisals, what standards of (a) behaviour and (b) attendance employees of the Department are required to meet. (181265)

All employees are expected to comply with the Department’s Standards of Behaviour policy which is based on the Civil Service Code. A copy of this document is available in the Commons Library.

Key principles of the Department’s Standards of Behaviour policy include integrity, honesty, objectivity and impartiality. These apply to employees at work and in aspects of their private life which may impact on their work.

Under the Department’s Attendance Management policy, the majority of employees would be formally interviewed if their absences due to sickness reached or exceeded eight days in a rolling 12-month period. The specific action taken would depend on the particular circumstances of the case. In many instances, this would take into account the advice given by an occupational health specialist.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 16 January 2008, Official Report, column 1381W, on performance appraisals, how many and what percentage of staff in his Department did not meet (a) some and (b) all of the objectives and targets in their appraisals in each of the last five years. (181266)

The information requested is not available.