More than 8,000 Scottish government staff will get a shorter working week despite £500million of budget cuts across the public sector.
The new working model will come into effect from October and will see civil service employees work eight hours less every month.
Staff will receive a 3% pay rise despite the finance secretary, Shona Robison slashing government spending. Cuts included £116million from the health budget and scrapping the winter fuel payments for pensioners.
Under the new agreement, weekly contracted hours will fall from 37 to 35, and workers will be able to take the time off by either finishing early on a Friday or take more days off.
Liz Smith, Scottish Conservative finance spokeswoman, said: “The public will question the wisdom of cutting hours and raising pay for government workers.
“Pensioners are seeing the SNP axe winter fuel payments, and there are savage reductions in health and transport budgets, yet the money can still be found for this deal for government employees. The SNP should explain why they chose this as a priority while slashing public services.”
Health and social care insiders have also expressed concern about cutting working hours for government staff when 73% of nurses are working beyond the end of their shifts every week.
Plans are currently in place to reduce working hours for frontline workers to 36 hours a week by April 2026. However, the decision has been seen as sending the "wrong message."
Shimeon Lee, a researcher at the Tax Payers’ Alliance, which campaigns on government waste, said: “As the Scottish government slashes frontline public services they’re signalling the wrong message by allowing public sector workers to work less hours while receiving more pay."
A spokesman for the Scottish government said they are "committed to promoting the wellbeing in the workplace and a healthy work-life balance" and the "change to working hours will maintain current levels of productivity with the same number of staff."