Thread: UAE annouces a 4.5 day working week

Saturday, Sunday weekend from January 1 in UAE: Four-and-half-day working week

The weekend will start on Friday afternoon with two-and-a-half days off

Image Credit: Virendra Saklani/Gulf News

Dubai: UAE announced on Tuesday that it will transition to a four-and-a half-day working week, with Friday afternoon, Saturday, and Sunday forming the new weekend. All Federal government departments will move to the new weekend from January 1, 2022.

The authorities added that with this move, the UAE has become the first nation in the world to introduce a national working week shorter than the global five-day week.


The working week will start on Monday and end by Friday afternoon. The working hours for federal employees are set to be from 7.30am to 3.30pm, with 8.5 working hours per day. On Friday, employees will work for 4.5 hours.

On Fridays, employees will also be allowed to choose flexible work or work-from-home options. The longer weekend is aimed at boosting productivity and improving work-life balance.

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The announcement also said that Friday sermons and prayers would be held after 1.15pm across the UAE all year long.

From an economic perspective, the new working week is set to better align the country 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.

The new working week will also bring the UAE’s financial sector into closer alignment with global real-time trading and communications-based transactions such as those driving global stock markets, banks and financial institutions. The move is expected to boost not only trading opportunities but also add to the flexible, secure, and enjoyable lifestyle the UAE offers its citizens and residents.

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, on social and family ties and on the overall wellbeing of people in the UAE.





https://gulfnews.com/uae/saturday-su....1638864606070

The Monday Blues Come to the UAE. Will the Saudis Follow?

Riyadh won’t want to cede an advantage in business to its Gulf neighbor. But cultural sensitivities and demographic realities in the kingdom complicate ending the Sunday-Thursday schedule.

By Bobby Ghosh
December 8, 2021


Photographer: Giuseppe Cacace/AFP via Getty Images Bobby Ghosh is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. He writes on foreign affairs, with a special focus on the Middle East and Africa.

Now that the United Arab Emirates plans to switch to a Monday-Friday workweek in line with international convention, will Saudi Arabia follow? The short answer: Probably, but not right away.

The Gulf Arab neighbors, long the closest of political allies, are locked in a fierce economic contest, and the Saudis will be wary of allowing the Emiratis to gain an advantage from the calendar change. But Riyadh must reckon with complex cultural sensitivities and demographic realities at home.

Starting Jan. 1, state employees in the UAE will start their weeks on Monday instead of Sunday. The workweek will be four-and-half days; Friday, a holy day in Islam, will be a half day, the Emirati government said. All schools, public and private, will also make the change.

Private companies aren’t obliged to follow suit, but many will. The switch won’t be a great imposition on companies in the energy sector, which already follows a Monday-Friday workweek in line with global oil markets. Nor will it disrupt the UAE’s huge tourism industry, which caters to an international clientele. Companies will find ways to compensate employees who are inconvenienced by having to keep working on Sundays because they deal with businesses across the Arabian Peninsula.

The government has said the change will allow the UAE to align more closely with global markets. It follows other recent moves, such as the easing of visa and residency rules, designed to make the country more attractive to foreign investors and workers and strengthen its claim to being the Middle East’s most important business center.

That is an assertion the Saudis are determined to challenge. The kingdom’s de-facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, eager to wean Saudi Arabia from overdependence on hydrocarbon exports, wants to diversify the economy into sectors where the UAE currently excels, from tech and tourism to transportation and logistics.

Saudi Arabia is pursuing aggressive policies to catch up with UAE. Saudi officials are talking to thousands of companies around the world about opening regional headquarters in the kingdom, offering tax breaks and other incentives. The Saudis are also playing hardball: Starting in 2024, government and state-backed institutions will stop signing contracts with foreign companies that base their Middle East headquarters elsewhere in the region.

So if the change in the workweek does give the Emiratis an edge, no matter how small, the Saudis will want to neutralize it. But they must first contend with challenges stemming from important differences between the two countries.

For one thing, Saudi Arabia has a much larger population — just shy of 35 million, compared with nearly 10 million in the UAE — and expatriates make up a much smaller proportion (a third, compared with nearly 90% in UAE). While the overwhelming majority of those who live in places like Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah come from countries where a Monday-Friday workweek is the norm, most people in Saudi Arabia have never been on that schedule.

Saudi society also is much more conservative, especially in matters of religion. Although the crown prince has used his near-absolute power to stifle clerical opposition to his rulings — earlier this year, for example, he barred the use of loudspeakers to amplify prayers and sermons at mosques — he may face some resistance to the idea of working on Fridays, even half days.

The last time the UAE adjusted its workweek, changing from a Thursday-Friday weekend to Friday-Saturday in 2006, the Saudis took a full six years to follow suit. Competitive pressures will likely reduce the response time now, but don’t expect Riyadh to rush order a change in its calendars.