CIVIL servants could have their pay docked for taking unwarranted sick leave as part of a clampdown on “sickies”.

Ministers will also announce plans this week to tighten the rules that allow people to certify themselves as too ill to work. Staff may have to ring their bosses daily to prove they are not faking illness.

The measures will be contained in a report from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), which shows sickness rates in the public sector are as much as double those in private companies.

On average, civil servants take 10 days off each year for sickness. This costs the country at least £4 billion a year, the equivalent of 1p on income tax and another 1p on fuel duty. The report identifies a tendency towards a “Friday to Monday problem” in which workers take long weekends off, claiming they are ill.

Gordon Brown, the chancellor, commissioned the report in July’s spending review when he announced the loss of 71,000 jobs across Whitehall.

Ministers have been tempted by a programme to tackle sickness absence launched by the supermarket chain Tesco. In some Tesco stores workers get no pay for the first three days they are ill, but after the fourth day pay begins again and there is compensation for the first three days.

The hardline approach is being watched closely by other employers. Critics say it could tempt workers to stay off work for a whole week, rather than a couple of days.

The DWP taskforce on health, safety and productivity in the public sector is chaired by Alan Johnson, the work and pensions secretary. Its report, to be published on Thursday, will set out the recommendations for dealing with malingering among Britain’s 523,000 civil servants.

In the comprehensive spending review in July Brown pledged to curb uncertified absences in the public sector, pointing out that 80% of sickness absences are self-certified and not subject to formal medical checks.

Yesterday Johnson, in a newspaper interview, attacked what he called a “sick-note culture”. But he appeared to rule out measures to put a time limit on sickness leave, saying he was “instinctively sceptical” about doing so because it “leads to a whole new system of bureaucracy”.

The report will also call for greater monitoring of the prevalence of sick leave in the public sector, with managers being urged to clamp down on any abuses.

Ministers will say this week that tackling sick leave is not all about “stick and no carrot”, emphasising that they will provide more counselling and support services for civil servants who are often off sick.

The clampdown on shirking in the public sector comes amid a government row over welfare payments to the sick and disabled.

Tony Blair is said to want to set a time limit on the period during which anybody, however badly disabled, can continue to claim incapacity benefit — which costs £7.7 billion a year. But both Brown and Johnson are resisting the plan.

Last week Brown promised a more general drive against Britain’s “sick-note culture”, with measures to cut the 2.7m people on incapacity benefit. The government is moving towards making claimants attend regular interviews under the “pathways to work” programme.

A report by the Labour- leaning Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) has called for far-reaching reform of incapacity benefit.

Kate Stanley, an IPPR senior research fellow, said: “Incapacity benefit has become a barrier to work. Many claimants fear that taking steps towards employment may place their benefits at risk and that returning to work will place any future claim at risk.

“A new benefit structure is needed which promotes employment opportunity but also guarantees security and dignity for those who cannot work.”

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