WIREDGOV

Launching the FDA's 2016 working hours report at its annual conference in London, General Secretary Dave Penman, said yesterday:

"Our survey of more than 1,000 senior managers and professionals paints a lamentable picture of an unsustainable long hours working culture within the civil service.

"One in 10 are working the equivalent of a seven-day week every week, 60% are working an extra day every week - and half are unable to take their annual leave.

"An elected Government has the right to determine the size of the civil service, but it owes the public and its staff a duty of care in ensuring that it will match its commitments to the resources it provides.

"Our survey is clear evidence that the Government has failed to do this and the high price being paid by civil servants is the result.

"Unrealistic expectations, increasing workloads, and the detrimental effect on family relationships are all reported in the survey, succinctly summed up by one member as: 'Life quickly becomes a routine of work, commute, eat, sleep, repeat'.

"This is not only damaging to public servants, but also puts at risk the vital public services that they deliver.

"70% of employers don't even record the additional hours worked, masking the reality of the endless salami-slicing of civil service resources.

"Despite its promises otherwise, the Government's Single Departmental Plans - published belatedly in February - failed abysmally to address any sense of priorities.

"These were nothing more than wish lists of policy commitments, with no detail on delivery or resources.

"That's why the FDA is today calling on every civil service employer to compensate every member of staff for every hour worked.

"Unless the Government faces a cost for its failure to deliver the right resources, it won't address the high cost being paid by its own employees to mask those deficiencies."

Notes for editors

1. The summary of findings from the FDA working hours survey 2016 can be read here.
2. The FDA working hours survey 2016 results are available on request.
3. FDA General Secretary Dave Penman is available for further comment or interview. Please contact Communications Manager Kay Hender on 020 7401 5589 or 07980 700747.
4. The FDA is the trade union for the UK's senior public servants and professionals. FDA membership includes more than 18,000 senior civil servants, Government policy advisors, prosecutors, diplomats, tax professionals, economists, solicitors and other professionals working across Government and the NHS.
5. The FDA (formerly the First Division Association) should be referred to simply as "The FDA" and can be described as "the senior public servants' union".
6. The FDA can be found on Twitter @FDA_union and at www.fda.org.uk.
7. For further information contact:
   • Kay Hender, Communications Manager, tel: 020 7401 5589 or 07980 700747.