Sainsbury's stores in Buckinghamshire trial four-day working week

The supermarket's 1,400 UK stores will take part in the three-month flexible working experiment, including branches in High Wycombe, Beaconsfield and Aylesbury.

Employees will continue to work 37.5 hours, but across a seven-day period rather than the traditional Monday-to-Friday pattern, The Times reported. 

It comes after a trial four-day working week trial, run by the think tank Autonomy, found that minimised hours maintained productivity and boosted employees' wellbeing. 

The new flexible working arrangement is being tested in Sainsbury's' head offices as well as among managerial colleagues and warehouse workers.

A head office worker told The Times the results so far had been "pretty good, in terms of the financials," but that it was "too difficult to navigate for managers, especially when people are working from home.

"If people did decide to work on Saturday, then you don't know if they're doing the work or not."

The retail giant has said that a condensed working scheme would not apply to employees across the board.

However, Sainsbury's is committed to supporting employees in stores across Buckinghamshire amid the cost-of-living crisis.

In January, a pay rise was announced for retail colleagues of at least £11 per hour. 

Stores have also introduced free food during shifts and increased staff discounts.

A spokesperson from Sainsbury's said: "We are currently testing new ways to be more efficient and offer improved flexibility.

“That’s why we have recently invested £185 million to give retail, hourly-paid colleagues a pay rise to help them manage increasing bills.”

It comes after UK supermarket chain Morrisons rolled out their four-day week scheme in 2020.

Morrisons' flexible working plan involved head office employees working nine hour shifts across a four-day week.

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Director of the global 4 Day Week campaign, Joe Ryle, said that compressed working hours, while a good start, were not the answer.

He said: "A proper reduction in working hours is key for achieving work-life balance and tackling burn-out, stress and overwork.

"We are campaigning for a four-day, 32-hour working week with no loss of pay."

Companies who participated in the four-day week pilot, published by Autonomy in collaboration with the University of Cambridge, saw an average revenue increase of 1.4 per cent. 

The trial program also found a 57% improvement in job retention, with a majority of the companies involved choosing to make the four-day week permanent.