Asda has scrapped its flagship four-day week after staff complained extra hours on their day off were draining them.
The supermarket giant launched a flexible working scheme last year which allowed managers to work 44 hours over four days for the same pay.
But the scheme was scrapped after workers said the 11-hour shifts were too “physically demanding” and left them on an extra day off.
Staff also said they struggled with early starts and late finishes, with staff who relied on public transport saying they were particularly affected by the change.
Parents reported that the longer days also made it more difficult for them to drop off and pick up their children from school.
In response to the feedback, Asda says it has abandoned the pilot – along with a planned nine-day trial period.
The supermarket is still testing a working model that involves working 39 hours over five days without taking a pay cut for its staff.
Asda said it had proved more popular and would run until the end of 2024.
The move comes as Unison – the UK’s biggest trade union – prepares to lobby the new government to introduce a four-day week, which Labor is trying to play down.
Instead, the new Labor government is expected to push NHS staff to work longer hours to reduce waiting lists and plans to speed up the planning process to boost efforts to build the house.
In South Cambridgeshire, a multi-year council-led trial found public sector workers exposed to a four-day week increased productivity and job satisfaction, while staff turnover fell by 39%, saving the council £371,000 a year in agency staffing costs. .
Joe Ryle, director of the 4 Day Week Campaign, said the results heralded “a huge opportunity for councils and public sector organizations to start planning for a four-day working week”.
He added: “These results prove once and for all that a four-day week without loss of pay can absolutely succeed in a local government environment.
“Not only has work-life balance improved dramatically, but council performance has also improved.
“With a more sympathetic Labor government now in place, there is a huge opportunity for councils and public sector organizations to start planning for a four-day working week.”
An Asda spokesman said: “Last year we started trialling four different flexible working models for managers across 20 stores.
“In April we announced that two of these trials, the new retail structure and five shorter working days, would run until the end of the year following positive feedback from colleagues in these stores.
“We will continue to test different flexible working patterns to assess how they can benefit our colleagues and our business.”
But Asda is not the only private sector company to turn away from the four-day week scheme, with home appliance specialist Domestic & General scrapping a similar pilot after claiming the extra hours left staff feeling “mentally” drained .
D&G chief executive Matthew Crummack told the Daily Telegraph: “Half the team absolutely loved it, half the team didn’t like it at all – it makes the day longer, it’s a bit more intense.”
Last year, internet services company Krystal pushed for a four-day week scheme after it claimed colleagues were struggling to complete all their weekly tasks in the reduced time.
But they responded by shortening the length of the working day from six hours to five.
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