Supermarket chain Albert Heijn has abandoned trials of a new app to assess what size uniforms staff need after the NRC reported workers were being told to upload photos of themselves in their underwear or tight sports clothes.

The paper said staff at a supermarket in Nijmegen had been told by email taking part in the trial was ‘essential and compulsory’, leading to a great deal of upset. However, according to the company, this was a ‘misunderstanding’ and participation was voluntary.

‘We were looking for an efficient and mistake-free way to assess people’s size so that the new company uniforms which will be adopted next year can be delivered correctly,’ a spokesman told the paper.

The trial has now been dropped and ‘we are very sorry about the confusion’, the spokesman said.