Major retailers are at the forefront of a push to lift workers’ paid leave to five weeks a year in a bid to attract long-term staff, as the industry union lobbies for fewer work hours in response to rising productivity and automation.

IKEA has agreed to increase more than 4000 workers’ paid leave from 20 to 25 days a year as part of an agreement with the retail union that also bans casual hires and enshrines offers to work a four-day week.