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Asda has reportedly scrapped its trial of a four day work week after staff were left exhausted, according to reports from The Telegraph.
Under the trial, employees in 20 of its stores worked a usual 44 hour work week in four days rather than five.
However, many staff complained that this was physically demanding while others struggled with the earlier start times and later finish times.
Following this, a spokesman for the supermarket said that it would now continue a trial of a 39 hour work week across five days until the end of the year.
Staff are not set to see any reduction in pay despite the reduction in working hours.
A spokesperson said: “We began trialling four different flexible working patterns for managers in 20 stores last year. In April we announced that two of those trials, a new retail structure and five shorter working days, would run until the end of this year, following positive feedback from colleagues in these stores. We will continue to test different flexible working patterns to assess how these can benefit our colleagues and our business.”
Asda originally brought in the four-day work week trial in a bid to head off a revolt from angry store managers.
Retailers that have successfully trialled a four day work week include Dunelm and Morrisons while Sainsbury’s allows staff to work 37.5 hours flexibly across seven days.
