The United Arab Emirates is cutting its working week to four-and-a-half days and moving 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” will be mandatory for government bodies from 1 January and bucks the regional norm of a full day-off on Friday for Muslim prayers.
While becoming the only Gulf state not to have a Friday-Saturday weekend, the move 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. » | Agence France-Presse in Dubai | Tuesday, December 7, 2021
