The United Arab Emirates said on Tuesday that it would start a 4.5 days working week from January 2022, with the full weekend switched to Saturday-Sunday. This move is aimed at better aligning its economy with western markets and schedules.
UAE, the oil-producing Gulf state, also the region’s commercial, trade, and tourism hub, currently has a Friday-Saturday weekend. As of January 1, 2022, the new weekend would start on Friday afternoon.
This decision, which will come into effect next month, makes the UAE, home to Abu Dhabi and Dubai, one of the few places in the Middle East to operate on Western hours instead of on a Sunday through Thursday working week.
The statement said, the government shift likely will see private industry and schools follow suit, as they did in 2006, when the week changed from Saturday to Wednesday – an Islamic workweek followed in some Muslim countries, such as Iran and Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, the Emirati government hailed the decision as making it “the first nation in the world to introduce a national working week shorter than the global five-day week”, referring to the half working day on Friday.
“The extended weekend comes as part of the UAE’s government efforts to boost work-life balance and enhance social well-being,” the statement also added.
Meanwhile, the UAE has also liberalized laws regarding cohabitation before marriage, alcohol, and personal status laws in addition to introducing longer-term visas as a way to attract and retain global talent and encourage more businesses to set up in the emirates.
