UAE: From 2022 onwards, work 4.5 days a week

【Text/Observer Network Ju Feng】

In order to better integrate with the international financial markets, the United Arab Emirates announced on December 7 that it will gradually transition to a 4.5-day working day, with rest days from Friday afternoon to Sunday, including schools. The government will introduce a new weekend system from January 1 next year. UAE government officials say private companies are free to choose their working days.

According to a number of foreign media, the UAE will become the first Gulf country to adjust in this way. The UAE National News Agency (WAM) announced that the country will become the first country in the world to have a working day less than 5 days. Previously, Iceland, Ireland, Spain and other countries have conducted experiments on the four-day working day to explore the possibility of giving employees more benefits and improving work efficiency.

Screenshot of the UAE Government Media Office Twitter

Currently, the UAE, like many Middle Eastern countries, has weekends scheduled for Friday and Saturday. Friday is a day of worship for Muslims. According to Al Jazeera, in most Muslim countries, Friday is the holiest day of the week. In some countries around the UAE, shops are not allowed to open before fridays.

Under the new work regime, the UAE government said that friday's work will end by 12 noon. Employees work 8 hours Monday through Thursday and 4.5 hours on Fridays. Government workers can opt for "flexible work or work from home" on Fridays. Friday services begin at 1:15 p.m.

The UAE government said extending the weekend would allow employees to better balance work-life. The government mentioned that other Muslim-majority countries, such as Indonesia and Morocco, also have weekends scheduled for Saturday and Sunday.

The UAE government said the move would "ensure smooth financial and trade with countries and provide greater international business contacts and opportunities for UAE businesses and multinationals".

According to Reuters reported on the 7th, Abdulrahman al-Awar, the UAE's human resources minister, said, "Each company can freely decide the weekend for employees according to their industry and the most suitable way for their business." ”

Over the past year, the UAE has taken steps to make the economy more open and attractive to foreign investment and talent amid increasing economic competition with Saudi Arabia.

Avar said the change would affect institutions such as central banks, which would then communicate details about the new working hours to commercial banks. In addition, the UAE Stock Exchange will also be better integrated into the global market.

"This change will strengthen the integration of the UAE banking sector with the international banking sector," he said.

Mohammed Ali Yasin, chief strategy officer of Al Dhabi Capital, a UAE investment firm, said the financial sector would benefit from being able to settle payments in tandem with developed markets, with tourism also being the beneficiary.

"It could be a good experiment for other countries in the Middle East," he said.

Monica Malik, an economist at Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, said she expected many private sector companies in the UAE to also set weekends on Saturday and Sunday, a move that, along with some other recent reforms in the UAE, is "very meaningful."

In addition to introducing long-term visas to attract businesses and talent, the UAE has also relaxed laws on premarital cohabitation, alcohol and personal status laws.

Bloomberg reported that the UAE changed weekends from Thursdays, Fridays to Fridays and Saturdays in 2006, and Saudi Arabia followed suit in 2013 before the regime spread to most Persian Gulf littoral states.

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