The public have lost trust in us: Whistleblower exposes ‘guilt’ of life in Lib Dem council which introduced four-day week

The hidden drawbacks of a four-day week controversially championed by a Lib Dem council have been exposed in a whistleblower letter.

The individual – who requested anonymity for fear of disapproval from his bosses and even family members who were baffled by the 'lazy' working practices – accuses South Cambridgeshire District Council (SCDC) of creating a 'sad' and 'lonely' workplace in the context of the experiment. , which provides full wages for 80 percent of the contractual time.

The shortened hours have even made work more 'intense', the councilor reveals, while teamwork and building relationships in the workplace are almost impossible, especially when combined with flexible working methods that create a 'lottery' that colleagues enter every day.

The castigate adds that they avoid telling outsiders about their shorter week to avoid being called a 'scrounger', saying: 'I am ashamed and afraid of being labeled 'lazy' or to receive comments such as 'Typical advice, hardly works.'

The letter was sent to Tory Opposition Leader Heather Williams, days after the Mail revealed that one in six staff at SCDC admit to taking on a second job on their day off – despite the council insisting the time is used to ' recover and gain new energy'. their job.

Ms Williams said: 'This is what happens when you use people as guinea pigs.'

Independent councilor Dan Lentell added: “It confirms what opposition councilors have been saying for months and years.

'This crazy version of a healthy idea, imposed without debate or vote in the full council, is failing.

South Cambridgeshire District Council (pictured), accused by a whistleblower of creating a 'sad' and 'lonely' workplace as part of a four-day working week experiment

Independent councilor Dan Lentell said: 'This pet project of a rogue senior leadership team is wreaking havoc in the real world.'

A woman relaxing in a home office (stock image). The whistleblower joins the experiment and warns that the four-day week 'is in fact a three-day week' [because] most people have Monday or Friday off

“This pet project of a rogue senior leadership team is wreaking havoc in the real world.”

The whistleblower joins the experiment and warns that the four-day week 'is in fact a three-day week' [because] most people have Monday or Friday off'.

This creates the 'untenable' situation where 'you have to cram most of your work into three days'.

Hybrid working makes it 'even worse' because employees 'only have to be in the office once a week'.

'This makes it impossible to build consistent working relationships with colleagues. How is that possible, if it is a lottery as to which colleagues will be in the office every day?' they write.

New employees 'have a hard time' because they cannot regularly work with colleagues, while the chaotic environment means 'there is no time to fit in training'.

The plan has turned the workplace into a “cold” place, they add, because “it is a huge three-storey building, but we now only need one floor for council staff”.

To tackle the 'guilt burden' of having a paid non-work day, they told Ms Williams: 'When I talk about work to family or friends who don't know about the four-day work week, I pretend I'm at work . a five day week like everyone else…

The four-day week process in South Cambridgeshire was criticized by the council's Tory group leader Heather Williams

A man working at a table at home (stock image). The criticism adds that staff do not tell outsiders about their shortened week to avoid being called a 'scrounger'.

'I understand that residents are annoyed. Would you be willing to pay council tax, knowing that your municipality has a paid day off every week?'

The report on the four-day week, which showed that 16 percent were in the shade on their day off, was commissioned by SCDC and published last summer.

It also showed that 56 percent of staff admitted they could cram their workload into fewer hours by avoiding 'procrastination', while seven in 10 'improved efficiency'.

The last Tory government ordered the council to end the scheme but was ignored – despite issuing a 'Best Value Notice' due to 'ongoing concerns'.

The council said staff retention had improved during the four-day working week, while job applications had increased by 50 per cent.

It added: 'We take the wellbeing of our staff extremely seriously and this was a key reason for trialling a four-day working week.'

Last week the council refused to ban undeclared work by staff on their days off after considering a motion from Cllr Lentell calling for proper controls to be put in place.

A six-week public consultation, running from next Monday (27th), will ask local people for their views on the plan, council leader Bridget Smith announced at the council meeting.