Refuse collectors employed by North Lanarkshire Council are to be formally offered a new working pattern based on a four day week.

Currently, staff work seven days out of 14 but the new system would be a condensed working week of 37 hours in four days. This was received favourably in employee surveys,  and is also predicted to save around £1 million each year.

However this will mean a reduction in salaries, but the council intends to offset this with one-off payments.

The change was approved by councillors at a recent meeting and will now be formally offered to staff, and could potentially come into effect by April.

In November 2023 a ban on sending upholstered seating to landfill, with councils needing to invest in alternative means of transportation, storage and destruction including setting up new specialised collection services.

These additional pressures mean that if the new working model is not adopted, North Lanarkshire Council will need to hire additional employees specifically to handle discarded soft furnishings, at a predicted cost of around £700,000.