Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Twycross on 13 August 2024 (HL548), what is their policy on full-time civil servants working a four-day week on full-pay; and whether the ‘right to switch off’ will apply to civil servants on their fallow workday when working a four-day week.

Departments are responsible for setting the terms and conditions of employment for their civil servants, in accordance with the rules of the Civil Service Management Code. Full time employees across the Civil Service generally work 42 hours gross (37 hours net) per week over 5 days. Some departments may have flexible working policies that allow employees to request compressed hours, where the same hours are worked, only compressed over a shorter period, with no change to pay. There are no flexible working arrangements that permit reduced hours or part time working in exchange for full time pay.