The Civil Service flexi-time scandal proves work-from-home culture has gone too far

Lucy Carrier-Pilkington | 7th May 2026 | Comment

New exposé reveals civil servants have been exploiting flexible working policies at the expense of the tax payer.

Civil servants are claiming up to 50 days holiday a year by abusing a half-baked “flexitime” policy, whistleblowers told The Telegraph this week. It has been exposed that staffers are able to game the system by declaring overtime and are racking up extra annual leave through a setup that lets them choose their start and finish times. Civil servants are also supposedly abusing the system by leaving their laptops open at the end of working from home to rack up extra hours, as well as counting commuting time as part of their workday. A former member of staff at The Pensions Regulator, a public body sponsored by the Department for Workand Pensions, said: “A common practice was for staff to leave their laptops idle from around 4pm, only returning at 5:30pm to shut them down so they could log another 90 minutes into their flexi balance.” Staffers must work 37.5 hours a week but are able t...

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