The United Arab Emirates cut its working week to
four-and-a-half days and moved its weekend from Friday-Saturday to
Saturday-Sunday in a major shift aimed at improving the country’s
competitiveness, officials have said.
The “national working week” is mandatory for government bodies and will bring the resource-rich and ambitious UAE into line with the non-Arab world.
Under the new timetable,
the public sector weekend starts at noon on Fridays and ends on Sunday. Friday
prayers at mosques will be held after 1.15pm all year round.
The move is intended to
“better align the UAE with global markets”, said the state news agency WAM,
calling the new working week the shortest in the world.
“The UAE is the first
nation in the world to introduce a national working week shorter than the
global five-day week,” it said.
The UAE observed a
Thursday-Friday weekend until 2006, when it moved to Fridays and Saturdays with
the private sector following suit.
“The extended weekend comes
as part of the UAE government’s efforts to boost work-life balance and enhance
social wellbeing, while increasing performance to advance the UAE’s economic
competitiveness,” the WAM report said.
“From an economic
perspective, the new working week will better align the UAE with global
markets, reflecting the country’s strategic status on the global economic map.
“It will ensure smooth
financial, trade and economic transactions with countries that follow a
Saturday-Sunday weekend, facilitating stronger international business links and
opportunities for thousands of UAE-based and multinational companies.”
From The Guardian (edited)
