The government on Thursday said it is promoting legislation to regulate working from home for civil servants, introducing flexible forms of employment as part of ongoing reforms.

The cabinet had on Wednesday approved a bill providing for working remotely on certain days a year as well as working in the office.

It also approved regulations for reduced working hours and extending the flexible work schedule within the civil service.

The decision is part of reforms included in the recovery and resilience plan.

When the new plan will come into effect will be decided at a later date, depending on when the bills are passed by parliament.

Details on the way working from home will be implemented are included in a guidebook.

The bill for a shorter workday – by two hours maximum per day for less pay – is only for certain groups of civil servant – parents of children up to 15, carers of ailing relatives living in the same household and employees with serious health problems.

Flexible working hours will also be improved, allowing for two hours instead of the one-and-a-half currently in force, so employees can choose to start work between 7am and 9am and finish between 2.30pm and 4.30pm, with special arrangements for parliament staff that have to work afternoons as well.

To implement the new regulations, all services that have not done so yet will need to install special software for employees to clock in.