Agreement reached to explore 4-day week in Defra

PCS continues to have constructive talks with Defra management about a four-day week.

PCS and Defra management have agreed to work collaboratively to explore the idea of a four-day week further and to address concerns the employer has made, including value for money. This is an important step forward but is not yet a commitment to implementing a pilot.

Next Steps

We need to provide more evidence of how a four-day week would work in Defra and provide benefits for both sides.

We will be conducting analysis of different types of teams and work to examine how a four-day week would work. We are asking members to suggest case studies of teams for us to investigate. We will be looking at exploring:

  • Different professions and job roles.
  • Different locations.
  • Different employers.

We will be prioritising working with our members, so we will be looking at areas with a higher percentage of PCS members.

We will soon be sending out more detailed questions with a questionnaire for members to fill in.

A four-day week and the PCS national campaign

A “significant shortening of the working week with no loss of pay” is one of our pay demands for 2024/2025.

A strike ballot of PCS members in 171 different bargaining areas, covering more than 150,000 PCS members across the civil service and related areas, opens on Monday 18 March in support of our national campaign. Look out for your ballot paper and make sure you vote.

Not yet a PCS member? Join online today.