UAE announces 4.5-day workweek

December 8, 2021

The government of United Arab Emirates (UAE) is set to implement a new four-and-a-half-day work week on January 1, 2022.

United Arab Emirates has become the first country in the world to implement a national work week which is shorter than five-day week across the world.
The new work week will be implemented as part of government’s efforts to enhance social wellbeing and boost work-life balance.
This change will affect federal government institutions.
It will be accompanied by new working hours as states below:

Monday to Thursday will be workdays, starting at 7:30 a.m. and ending at 3:30 p.m.
Friday work hours will start at 7:30 a.m. and end at 12:00 pm.

Apart from this change, Friday sermons and prayers will start at 1:15 pm across the UAE.

Government employees will be given the option to work from home on Fridays and schedule their work hours on a flexi-time basis.

With the implementation of new work week, longer weekend is part of government’s attempts to improve work-life balance and social well-being.
It will also help in improving performance in a bid to promote economic competitiveness of UAE.
It will help in connecting the UAE with global markets from an economic point of view. It reflects UAE’s strategic position on global economic map.
New change will facilitate greater international business relations as well as possibilities for thousands of UAE-based & global enterprises by ensuring easy commercial, economic and financial activities with the countries following Saturday-Sunday weekend.