Work/life balance is the key to happy, productive teams. And compressed hours are a flexible way of boosting morale without losing productivity or shift coverage. Offering them can make you an attractive employer, especially in hospitality and healthcare.

What are compressed hours?

Compressed hours, or a compressed work week, is a flexible working arrangement where a full-time team member works all their contractual hours over fewer working days.

Instead of the standard five-day, 40-hour work week (for 8 hours a day), the team member works longer shifts on fewer days (so 10 hours a day) to get a day off each week.

The main idea?

• Same hours: Your team member’s contracted hours (and salary) don’t change.

• Fewer work days: Their weekly hours are ‘squeezed’ into fewer, longer shifts.

• A "free" day: The team member gets an extra day off during the standard work week.

This is a formal type of flexible working that starts by a team member requesting it from their employer.

Why compressed hours matter to UK businesses

In the UK, the right to request flexible working is protected by law. Compressed hours are a popular request, so it’s important to have a clear policy, particularly if you’re in retail, healthcare or hospitality where every shift needs to be covered.

Having a fair, structured approach to compressed hours gives UK businesses a big advantage:

• Attract and retain talent: This flexibility is a big perk. Shift workers appreciate having longer blocks of time off, so they can manage their personal life, childcare or second jobs. Compressed hours can help you hire and keep hold of great staff.

• Boosts morale and wellbeing: An extra day off is a game-changer for work/life balance, leading to lower stress, less burnout and happier teams

• Optimised coverage: Compressed hours mean fewer days, but you can schedule those longer shifts strategically to cover busy periods or longer operating hours, improving daily coverage.

• Brand benefit: Offering compressed hours shows you’re a forward-thinking employer that genuinely cares about your team’s wellbeing.

🇬🇧 The UK law on compressed hours

There is no specific UK law that says an employer must offer compressed hours. But UK businesses must respect the statutory right to request flexible working.

For shift-based businesses, the big hurdle is having to prove a statutory business ground for refusing a request, while keeping things fair. Keeping your managers consistent in how they handle requests is key.

The shift manager’s compressed hours challenge

Implementing compressed hours can be tough for managers who create schedules across sites or departments:

• Breaching WTR: Longer shifts (10+ hours) make it hard to manage the 48-hour weekly average and make sure rest breaks are taken, as required by working time regulations.

• Scheduling complexity: Meticulous planning’s need to make sure team members on compressed hours don’t leave critical gaps on their scheduled day off. This is a real headache where cover is vital, like in healthcare.

• Fair and consistent: Business owners and managers need a fair, auditable system for handling requests. Compressed hours shouldn’t end up accidentally overloading other team members, or look like favouritism.

• Tracking and reporting: Manually calculating the average weekly hours for team members working non-standard patterns is time-consuming and can lead to payroll mistakes.

How to simplify compressed hours management

For UK businesses in demanding sectors, like hospitality, retail and healthcare, tech is the best way to handle the legal compliance and complex scheduling of compressed hours.

• Compliance rules engine: Use a digital scheduling platform, like Planday, that can be set up with UK labour rules to automatically check shifts and flag any potential working time regulation breaches before a schedule is published.

• Visual scheduling tools: Use a digital scheduler that clearly shows team member availability and approved working arrangements, so managers can visually plan coverage around days off.

• Time and attendance tracking: Use a digital clock-in/out system, like Planday’s Punch Clock, to accurately record working time, and simplify the data you need to prove you’re compliant with the 48-hour average rule.

• Transparent request management: Use a system that formalises the request and approval process, creating a traceable record and makes sure all managers apply policies consistently and fairly.

Planday can help you manage all flexible working arrangements, including compressed hours, by automating compliance checks and simplifying scheduling to keep your business covered and your team's wellbeing supported.

Don't let flexible working become a scheduling nightmare

Try Planday for 30 days free to see how it can make compliance easier, simplify shift coverage and help you manage compressed hours fairly and efficiently.