As a part of an effort to boost the balance between work and personal life and to enhance social well-being — as well as to simultaneously increase performance to advance economic competitiveness — weekends in the United Arab Emirates will shift from Fridays and Saturdays to Saturdays and Sundays, as the official work week for entities of the federal government of that country will become shorter than five days effective as of Saturday, January 1, 2022.
Weekends Will Officially Shift to Saturday and Sunday in the United Arab Emirates
The new official hours to work during the week begin at 7:30 in the morning; and the workday ends at 3:30 in the afternoon Mondays through Thursdays and noon on Fridays — which means that the United Arab Emirates has become the First Nation in the world to introduce a national working week which is shorter than the global five-day work week.
“From an economic perspective, the new working week will better align the UAE with global markets, reflecting the country’s strategic status on the global economic map. It will ensure smooth financial, trade and economic transactions with countries that follow a Saturday/Sunday weekend, facilitating stronger international business links and opportunities for thousands of UAE-based and multinational companies”, according to this article from Emirates News Agency, which is the official media department of the government of the United Arab Emirates. “Alongside the move, Friday sermons and prayers across the UAE will be held from 1:15 pm. Government staff will have the flexibility to make arrangements to work from home on Fridays, as well as to arrange their working hours on a flexi-time basis.”
Adopting an agile working system will enable the United Arab Emirates to “rapidly respond to emerging changes and enhance wellbeing in the workplace.”
The new working week will also bring the financial sector of the nation “into closer alignment with global real-time trading and communications-based transactions such as those driving global stock markets, banks and financial institutions” with the expectation that not only will trading opportunities be boosted; but it will also add to the flexible, secure, and enjoyable lifestyle which the country offers to its citizens and residents.
According to the aforementioned article, “The Federal Authority for Government Human Resources proposed the new workweek following comprehensive benchmarking and feasibility studies reflecting potential impacts of the move on the economy, social and family ties and the overall wellbeing of people in the UAE.”
Final Boarding Call
What is interesting about this shift in policy by the United Arab Emirates is when a travel company offers a promotion which involves weekends, as some countries in the Middle East consider a weekend to be Friday and Saturday — and this usually is disclaimed in the terms and conditions of such promotions.
As one of numerous examples, this winter sale of 2018 for stays during weekends at participating hotel and resort properties within the brand portfolio of Hilton in Europe, the Middle East and Africa indicated that “For purposes of this offer — which is subject to availability at participating hotel and resort properties within the Hilton portfolio of brands in the Middle East and Africa — weekend is defined as Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights in the Middle East; and as Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights in Turkey, Lebanon, Morocco and the continent of Africa.”
Do not be surprised if other countries whose official weekend is currently Fridays and Saturdays to follow the lead of the United Arab Emirates.
Now if only countries around the world can be more aligned to on what side of the road motorists should drive…
All photographs ©2015 by Brian Cohen.
