Appalling (Mail, £). An extract:
“The members of the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union say it would benefit both employees and the Government by improving work-life balance while reducing sick days.
They are the second Whitehall branch to demand a four-day week after those in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs made the call first last December.
Last night Elliot Keck, head of campaigns at the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: ‘Taxpayers will see right through this utter claptrap being pushed by work-shy pen pushers.
‘Public sector workers already work fewer hours and take more annual leave than private sector workers, yet somehow these spoiled bureaucrats have the gall to demand even more time off.
‘Angela Rayner should take this opportunity to stand up for the British people and demand that civil servants do a full week of work like the rest of the country.’
But PCS general secretary Fran Heathcote insisted: ‘A four-day week benefits both the employer and the employee. Employers offering a four-day week have better staff retention, find recruiting easier and lose less to sick days.” [J4MB: A one-day week with no loss in pay would bring even more ‘benefits’, on these grounds.]
It hardly needs pointing out that the majority of the employees, as in the public sector in general, are women.
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Justice for Men & Boys 
Whats not to like, less work for the same pay ? The “family friendly” line has been a slackers charter for decades. One colleague had Friday and Monday off because her boyfriend lived in London ( she in Manchester) while another had shorter days because her dog got nervous when she was out. Basically any request got aceeded to. It is no surprise that 20 years on whole Councils and Gov. services expect to go to work at their convenience. In services where it’s vital to cover 5 days and a full day one sees more and more extra staff employed to fill the gaps. I good example being the various “teaching assistant” roles. Once to assist in class but now often actually taking classes instead of teachers. Both driving up costs and diluting the quality of teaching and other services. The gap between the office based adminstrative staffs and hands on staffs, the latter in private organisations, charity or “outsourced” companies grows wider and wider. I do think this is a useful political point as more and more people see public sector as privileged and arrogant .
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Indeed. Most teachers are female and almost all teaching assistants likewise. Two women teach kids less well than a single man 30+ years ago. An excellent example of where standards drop when professions are feminised.
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no thanks
they are getting an above inflation pay rise( and a four day week will increase it further by 20%) and should be working to make up for the loss of productivity since covid.
if they feel so stressed , then maybe they should do the job instead of engaging in politics..
a four day week will only work if they put in the same effort/hours as a five day week
I’m currently doing a full weeks work in either 4 or even 3 days, but I just work longer hours( its to suit the nature of the business), it not for every one.
just like the work from home myth which so many people abused( it only works for very specific remote work that is under some form peformance audit)
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