But a firefighter clocks up nearly 120 hours' sick leave in the same period. (The Fire & Rescue department's average drops to just over 80 when other staff are included.) RailCorp employees take more than 70 hours each year. The figures are for the financial years from 2008-09 to 2010-11. If they were brought into line with the average in the private sector, the government would save more than $100 million, Mr Dundon said. ''There's very strong resistance from unions, and management aren't willing to implement strategies because of that. It's a chronic entitlement mentality.'' DHS consults on absenteeism to corporations and the public service. The company advocates a system similar to that being introduced by the National Health Service in Britain where sick staff must report to a call centre staffed by nurses. Speaking to professionals makes people less likely to feign illness, or to get treatment earlier when their symptoms are serious. A trial in the NHS in 2010 found the system reduced sick days by up to a quarter. Despite the general perception, average absences among NSW public servants are only half a day more than the average of 7.5 sick days in the private sector, according to a national survey DHS released last week. But the private sector average was inflated by unusually high absenteeism among call-centre employees, who took almost 10 days' leave each year. Excluding call centre workers, the private sector average is 6.5.

The assistant general secretary of the NSW Public Service Association, Steve Turner, said procedures on sick leave were adequate: ''The government keeps coming back to us about too much being taken. We say that's the manager's responsibility.'' A spokeswoman for Fire and Rescue said its employees did dangerous jobs and had to be totally fit to work. Their rostering system, based on 10- and 14-hour shifts, might be inflating their sick-leave figure. ''A firefighter taking one day of sick leave may use 10 or 14 hours of his or her sick leave entitlement,'' she said. The NSW Police, who often work 12-hour shifts, average only 58 hours' a year. An Auditor-General's report on sick leave in 2010 found NSW public servants took more than those in any other state. It was highest in agencies with more generous entitlements and spiked around weekends and public holidays, the report found. An expert on sick leave, Nick Glozier, at the University of Sydney's medical school, said the variations were linked to differences in class and workplace culture. ''The higher up the pecking order people are, the less sick leave they take,'' he said. ''If you're working in Treasury at a professional level and you get paid more and have more social standing, you are less likely to take time off.''

Professionals had more control over their jobs, could more easily take work home when they were sick and were less likely to have occasional sick leave measured, Professor Glozier said. ''If you take the odd day here and there … it never gets counted.'' But if you're a train guard ''someone notices when you're not there''. The head of the state's Public Service Commission, Grahame Head, said the government planned to implement the practices of departments with the lowest levels of leave.