"The profit level (of the previous financial year) was suppressed by an unacceptably high level of absence," wrote the company's managing director Joe Costello to staff. "This ... will result in a rethink of essentiagroup's business model and could lead to more use of agency staff."
The letter says essentiagroup has been faced with "an inability to service our clients' needs due to absence".
The Government agreed last month to audit essentiagroup following allegations that details about calls and callers were being fabricated. This followed a National Audit Office probe (YPN, 20-26 September, p5).
Ian Merry, the former member of staff who called for the probe, is pressing the audit office for answers to questions including the number of agency staff employed. He said he resigned because he could not subscribe to the service's ethics.
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