Council urged to monitor staff working second jobs on their paid day off in four-day week trial
South Cambridgeshire District Council (SCDC), which controversially introduced a four-day working week for its staff, has been urged to keep an eye on employees who take up second jobs on their paid day off. The council began a trial in January 2023 where employees complete their full workload within 80 percent of their usual hours, without any pay cut, and are encouraged to use their day off to 'recover and re-energise'.
Independent councillor Dan Lentell proposed a motion for SCDC to implement 'appropriate monitoring' after a survey revealed that workers were taking on additional jobs. A health and wellbeing survey discovered that nearly one in six staff had taken on other paid work during their extra day off.
Mr Lentell, a ward councillor for Over and Willingham, expressed his support for the four-day working week but insisted there should be guidelines to prevent conflicts of interest.
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He said: "There should be more scrutiny at what work council members take on.This has never been debated or discussed in front of a full council. Ratepayers are essentially having to subsidise council workers.
"Within a council, you have to ask whether if you're taking another paid job - especially if it could have a conflict of interest - then it should be monitored."
The health and wellbeing survey conducted by wellbeing specialists Robertson Cooper found that 16 percent of workers had taken on other paid work during their extra day.
The 2024 survey showed that half of the staff used their day off for personal errands, closely followed by housework. A spokesperson for SCDC stated that the survey considered waste services where some colleagues had second jobs before the trial.
Mr Lentell commented: "I couldn't do what I do without four day working - to look after my kids while my wife works. I want this for everyone, but first we must sincerely apologise to the residents of South Cambridgeshire.
"There's no denying that the four-day workweek is here to stay, and local government is an excellent place to experiment with different work methods.However, this trial is clearly unfair."
Mr Lentell's proposal will be debated by councillors next week (January 14). The motion calls for the council to introduce 'appropriate monitoring and reporting mechanism', but not a ban on second jobs.
Mr Lentell thinks there should be guidelines to prevent staff from taking on paid jobs that could compromise public trust or conflict with their council duties.
A SCDC spokesperson said: "In the 2024 survey, 62 of the 69 people who said they were doing other paid work on their non-working day are in the Shared Waste Service.
"This is not surprising, as we knew that several Waste colleagues had second jobs before the trial, such as an evening cleaning job. It is not uncommon in the Shared Waste Service for these colleagues to take on second part-time jobs.
"We have conducted another survey specifically to ask employees based at the Waterbeach Depot about secondary employment. Of the 189 staff who work out of the depot, we have been able to survey 170 employees so far.
"All employees who said they have a second job confirmed that they had it before the trial."