Supermarket chain Sainsbury’s has given employees at its head offices in Holborn, Coventry and Milton Keynes, as well as store managers and warehouse staff, the chance to work a four-day week.
The retailer said it will allow eligible staff to choose how they work their hours, such as working four longer days, or at the weekend, so they can have more time off in the week. Employees must still work 37.5 hours per week, but this can be spread over a seven-day period instead of Monday to Friday.
According to the supermarket, it introduced the policy in order to improve flexibility and work more efficiently, and to position itself as a great place to work. It stated that this has not been offered to store workers below management, as they have different working patterns across the business.
A Sainsbury’s spokesperson said: “We are always looking to evolve our ways of working to ensure we can do the best possible job for customers while continuing to be a brilliant place to work for our colleagues. We are currently testing new ways to be more efficient and offer improved flexibility.
“At the same time, we are committed to supporting colleagues when they need it most. That’s why we have recently invested £185 million to give retail hourly-paid colleagues a pay rise to help them manage increasing bills. This is the second pay rise we have given retail colleagues this financial year, taking Sainsbury’s total investment in staff pay to £205 million.”
Earlier this week, Four Day Week Global, Four Day Week Campaign and Autonomy, which led a six-month trial of a four-day week in the UK, with no loss of pay for workers, revealed that 92% of participants said they will definitely continue or are planning to continue with a four-day working week.
