PCS - the civil service union

📢 PCS MEMBERS: IMPORTANT BALLOT UPDATE With our national ballot expected to open on 20 October, PCS General Secretary Fran Heathcote answers members’ questions about our campaign for better pay, pensions, job security, and rights at work. Watch the video and get ballot-ready #PCS

🚨PCS PRESS RELEASE: Scottish Government workers to be balloted for industrial action over hybrid working PCS members across the Scottish Government and 4 other employers are to be balloted for industrial action in a dispute over plans to enforce office attendance with punitive measures and undermine already-agreed flexible working arrangements. The ballot will involve members working in the Scottish Government, Social Security Scotland, Community Justice Scotland, Transport Scotland and Disclosure Scotland, amid growing opposition to the imposition of mandatory office attendance targets. The Scottish Government has introduced a requirement for staff to spend at least 40% of their working time in the office, with the threat of disciplinary action for those who fail to comply. PCS believes the move represents a significant attack on previously agreed hybrid working arrangements, replacing a job-based approach with an entirely arbitrary attendance target. The union argues that the Scottish Government has failed to demonstrate how compulsory office attendance will improve the delivery of public services and is instead pursuing a policy that risks damaging staff morale, work-life balance and the progress made towards a more inclusive workforce. The dispute also raises concerns about the wider future of hybrid working across the Scottish Government and its executive agencies, several of which already enforce office attendance requirements. PCS is calling on the Scottish Government to reverse the new mandatory targets and rule out the use of office attendance as a measure of individual performance or as grounds for disciplinary action. The union is also seeking a consistent and fair approach to hybrid working across the Scottish Government and its agencies, recognising that some roles require a physical presence while protecting flexibility for staff, including those working in rural and dispersed locations. The decision to move to a statutory ballot follows a consultative ballot in 2025, in which 70% of participating PCS members backed industrial action over hybrid working. PCS maintains that decisions about where staff work should be driven by operational needs and the effective delivery of public services, not rigid attendance quotas. The union remains committed to securing a negotiated resolution that protects members' terms and conditions and preserves the benefits of flexible working. Ruby Gibson, PCS national officer for Scotland, said: ‘The Scottish Government has provided no convincing evidence that forcing staff back into the office for at least 40% of their working time will improve public services, productivity, or outcomes for the people of Scotland. Instead, the Permanent Secretary and employers have chosen to impose an arbitrary target and threaten disciplinary action against workers who do not comply.’ ‘This is an unacceptable way to treat the people who helped keep Scotland's public services running through the Covid-19 pandemic and have continued to deliver vital services in challenging circumstances ever since.’ ‘The pandemic demonstrated what civil servants and their employers already knew: that public services can be delivered effectively through flexible and hybrid working. It opened up opportunities for a better work-life balance, improved productivity and a more inclusive workforce, including for disabled workers, carers and those living in rural and remote communities.’ ‘Rather than building on those gains, the Scottish Government is determined to turn the clock back. It is replacing trust with surveillance, flexibility with rigid targets and constructive employment relations with the threat of disciplinary action.’ ‘This is not about opposing office working. It is about ensuring that working arrangements are determined by the needs of the job and the services being delivered, not arbitrary targets imposed without proper evidence or meaningful agreement with staff and their representatives.’ ‘This ballot is about protecting the future of hybrid working across the Scottish Government and its agencies and making clear that PCS members will not simply accept decisions that undermine their working lives. PCS is ready to negotiate a sensible, evidence-based solution, but we will not stand by while hard-won protections are stripped away.’ Notes: The PCS ballot will run from 9 November 2026 until 14 December 2026.

PCS members working on the outsourced Sodexo contract at HMRC sites in Belfast, who have been taking industrial action since June, have secured a significant victory in their campaign. pcs.org.uk/news-events/news/…

Public money should fund public services, not private profits. Proud to stand alongside @insourcenowgb in the fight to bring services back in-house. Public services in public hands. ✊ #InsourceNow #CaptaCrisis

"We need to demand a better future for civil servants" #VoteYesYes #PCS

🚨 Stop the outsourcing of Student Loans Company jobs PCS is fighting plans to privatise and potentially offshore jobs, with no meaningful consultation or discussion of alternatives. Take two minutes to email your MP and demand that they back our campaign to keep these jobs in public hands. E-Action: action.pcs.org.uk/page/20361… #PCS

PCS LIVE: Islamophobia Awareness Month 2026 - Don't Let It Slide teapawt.org/i/broadcasts/2JQlzEBRp…

Tonight! Join us across PCS Social media platforms (X, FB, YouTube) #PCS

"I support the national campaign because I’m worried about the future of employment within the civil service" pcs.org.uk/news-events/blogs… #VoteYesYes

Come on, everybody! Cast your Yes/Yes vote. #PCS #VoteYesYes

Join us across PCS Social media platforms (X, FB, YouTube) this Wednesday, 4 November #PCS

Zakk explains why he is voting yes in the national ballot and remembers his first days as a PCS member on a picket line in 2023. Read the blog: pcs.org.uk/news-events/blogs… #VoteYesYes

✍🏽 Nav, PCS young members’ convenor for London and the South East, shares why he is supporting the PCS National Campaign and ballot: pcs.org.uk/news-events/blogs… #VoteYesYes

Improved employment rights came into effect today, including: - Trade unions now have a legal right to access workplaces to meet workers - Greater protection during industrial action - Stronger support for union representatives - Fairer union recognition processes - Tougher action on sexual harassment pcs.org.uk/news-events/news/…

He is scheduled to meet with the Cabinet Office. More details and to sign our e-action: pcs.org.uk/news-events/news/… #InsourceNow #PCS

Use our new e-action to urge your MP to support PCS's national campaign for fair pay and conditions, secure jobs, decent pensions and stronger workplace rights. More info and e-action pcs.org.uk/news-events/news/… #VoteYesYes

PCS LIVE: Black History Month - The Far Right and Trade Unions teapawt.org/i/broadcasts/1wxWjleyZ…

Haven't received your PCS ballot? Request a replacement ballot now! Electronic vote: Missing your voting email or updated your email address? Postal vote: Ballot not arrived or your address has changed Check your details and request a replacement through PCS Digital. ⏰ Deadline: 12 noon, 16 November. Keep an eye on our other key dates so you don't miss anything important! #VoteYesYes NB: For all PCS members in the UK civil service and related public bodies covered by this ballot Members eligible to vote in N Ireland must do so by post.

"Everything seems to be going up, but our pay simply hasn't kept pace" #VoteYesYes #PCS