A switch to a new Saturday Sunday weekend is now official, with the public sector getting a four-and-a-half day work week, according to an announcement from the UAE government,.
The UAE Government tweeted from the official UAE Media Office account that the country will move to a new weekend on January 1, 2022.
In addition, the public sector will move to a four-and-a-half day working week. Fridays will be a half day, said the announcement.
The New system applies to all federal government entities. There has been no official announcement for the private sector, but it is expected to come soon.
The official government working hours are now from Monday to Thursday from 7:30 am to 3:30 am, and Friday being a 4.5 hour working day from 7:30 am to 12:00 pm.
Friday sermons and prayers will be held after 1:15 pm all year long in the UAE, said the announcement.
“Longer weekends are to boost productivity and improve work-life balance,” said the announcement.
Esquire Middle East reported in June that Dr. Habib Al Mulla, a respected Emirati lawyer, stated that a Saturday Sunday weekend was being considered, to stay in line with the international business community, both East and West.
“The world is not just Europe. There is the whole East,” tweeted Al Mulla, adding that he had no opinion on the matter personally.
Al Mulla is regularly consulted to draft and advise on Federal and Emirate-level law in the UAE, according to his biography.
It was then being discussed that the working week would then be Monday to Thursday, with Friday working from home for only half a day, according to Al Mulla.
This would not translate to the private sector, however, Al Mulla added.
Another prominent Emirati figure also separately tweeted in June, “Goodbye Thursday forever! Change is coming soon.”
The four-day work week has been talked about worldwide as a way to improve quality of life while potentially not sacrificing productivity.
A report released lover the summer said that Iceland’s switch to a four-day working week was an overwhelming success
In May 2006, the UAE made the decision change its weekends from Thursday-Friday to Friday-Saturday, which went into effect in September of that year. The move created overlap with international weekends, allowing businesses to thrive in the UAE while also recognizing the religious and cultural importance of Friday.
All of the Gulf countries subsequently made the change, with Saudi Arabia changing its weekends in 2013.