Civil servants call for four-day saying it could save Government £21m a year

Civil servants are campaigning for permission to work a four-day workweek, citing it as "critical to attaining a good quality of life" while also potentially saving the Government £21 million annually.

The arrangement would more than halve staff turnover and free up money to hire an extra 2,345 workers, officials in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) estimate

According to analysis by the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS), which represents these workers and conducted the study, a reduction in sickness absence from an annual average of 4.3 working days lost per employee to just 1.5 is forecast. Campaigning Whitehall officials are pushing for Defra to test-drive a pilot four-day week initiative to allow bosses to evaluate its impact.

Statisticians within the department say that the Government could pocket savings of £21.4m through the implementation of this plan. That figure is based on Institute for Government modelling of the year 2016-17 and updated to reflect a rise in salaries, staff numbers and turnover since then.

A comprehensive survey involving over 1,200 PCS members contributes additional benefits to this proposal, with a sweeping 80% of participants asserting that the shift would enhance their health and well-being. Fran Heathcote, General Secretary of PCS, insists the findings highlight that any objection to a shorter working week stems from "purely ideological" stances, stressing that there are undeniable "financial benefits too." She said: "Why else would an employer stand in the way of progress? ".

Joe Ryle, Director of the 4-Day Week Campaign, said: "Our members are resolute in their belief that a four-day week is critical to attaining a good quality of life, improving their health and wellbeing and helping them to meet caring responsibilities, while all the time increasing their productivity."

Director of the 4-Day Week Campaign Joe Ryle, who wrote a foreword to the research, said the “time has come” to trial the arrangement in Whitehall.

He said: "As hundreds of British companies in the private sector have already shown, a four-day week with no loss of pay can be a win-win for both workers and employers,".

The Government recently withdrew its objections to South Cambridgeshire District Council's adoption of a four-day week, which had been challenged by the previous Conservative leadership.

During Prime Minister’s Questions last Wednesday, questioned Sir about the policy, asking: "If he is going to bail out the public sector then can he tell us this: does he think it is appropriate – as the Ministry for Housing has done – to approve a four-day week for councils that is not flexible working but is actually part-time work for full-time pay? ".

In response, Sir Keir Starmer dismissed the query, replying: "Questions based on what we’re actually doing are usually better than fantasy questions made up."

"What did they deliver in 14 years? Low growth, a stagnant economy, a disastrous mini-budget, a £22bn black hole and now she wants to give me advice on running the economy? I don’t want to be rude but no thank you very much."

A spokeswoman for Defra has confirmed that there are no plans to implement a four-day week.