The government has just announced a major change for our Sunday to Thursday UAE workweek. In hopes of being more in line with the rest of the world, the Gulf will now be adopting a four-and-a-half-day workweek starting January 1, 2022.
This means that now the weekend will be Saturday and Sunday, similar to the rest of the world, and the UAE workweek’s duration will be Monday to Friday. This announcement also reveals that the UAE will begin with testing out this new workweek across Federal government departments.
#UAE announces today 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. pic.twitter.com/tQoa22pai9
— UAEGOV (@UAEmediaoffice) December 7, 2021
Fridays’ work hours will also be between 7:30 to 12:00 pm as the day is holy in Islam, and sermons and prayers will be held at 1:15 pm every Friday for the year.
#UAE announces today 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. pic.twitter.com/tQoa22pai9
— UAEGOV (@UAEmediaoffice) December 7, 2021
The government’s aim is to boost productivity and improve work-life balance for the UAE workweek, and we’re personally *so* onboard with this new change!
Now we can officially understand why everyone ~hates~ Mondays.