Humza Yousaf will announce a key step towards normalising a four-day working week tomorrow as he seeks to put his stamp on the government he inherited from Nicola Sturgeon.
The First Minister is expected to announce a series of initiatives in the annual Programme for Government at Holyrood on Tuesday.
Mr Yousaf is expected to confirm a four-day working week will be piloted within parts of the public sector by the end of the calendar year.
The Herald reports that the experiment will run for around 12 months, with some government enterprise bodies having already expressed an interest in taking part.
If successful, it could be rolled out far more widely within central government, councils and quangoes, potentially acting as a catalyst, he hopes, for the private sector to follow suit.
Last year, a six-month pilot involving 61 companies employing 2,900 people in the UK ended with 56 firms reporting they would continue with the set-up, 18 permanently.
Employees reported feeling less stressed, anxious, fatigued and sleepless afterwards, while company revenues stayed broadly the same or higher.
Almost one in six employees said they would not accept a return to a five-day week because of the improved work-life balance.
The Programme for Government (PfG) contains the list of bills the Government plans to introduce at Holyrood in the coming year, most already identified in the SNP manifesto.
Bills on justice, the environment and tackling climate change are expected.