Leading industry figures have welcomed the announcement on Tuesday that the UAE is to transition to a four-and-a-half-day working week for government employees.
And they believe the private sector won’t be long in following suit.
“The private sector will have flexibility to decide the weekend,” Abdulrahman Al Awar, director general of the Federal Authority for Government Human Resources, said in an interview with Asharq TV. The country’s labor law allocates a maximum of 48 hours per working week and a minimum of one day off per week, he said.
“The private sector will have flexibility to decide the weekend,” Abdulrahman Al Awar, director general of the Federal Authority for Government Human Resources, said in an interview with Asharq TV. The country’s labour law allocates a maximum of 48 hours per working week and a minimum of one day off per week, he said.
Under the landmark move – the UAE is the first nation in the world to introduce a national working week shorter than the global five-day week – Friday afternoon, Saturday and Sunday will form the new weekend.
All federal government departments will move to the new weekend from January 1, 2022.
Aidan Healy, owner of Dubai-based Healy Consultants Group, told Arabian Business: “The transition to a working week aligned with global markets is a positive development for the UAE, in my opinion. This will make it easier for corporations like ours dealing with international business. Usually a lot of communication gets missed out on Sundays.
“I am confident the private sector will also want to proceed with the change. Firms will want to align themselves with the public sectors working days as well as their global clients.”
According to the announcement, Monday to Thursday will comprise an eight-hour working day from 7.30am to 3.30pm.
Margaret Flanagan, co-founder at marketing and communications agency, Tales & Heads, said: “As a Dubai-based start-up with clients in Europe, not only is this great news for us, it’s also indicative of the commitment to supporting businesses and entrepreneurs in the UAE, and further strengthens the country’s status as a global leader in finance, commerce and trade.”
Friday sermons and prayers will be held at 1.15pm throughout the year. There is the possibility of flexible working and work-from-home options on Fridays.
Ray Everett, CEO of Human Capital at Aon, for Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Africa, told Arabian Business: “The four-and-a-half-day work weeks allows Muslims to still worship on the holy day. However, it also demonstrates the UAE’s approach to flexible work. Both moves will be applauded by business leaders and employees I expect.”
It comes amid a global battle for talent, with regional pressures – particularly from neighbouring Saudi Arabia – to attract and retain the very best companies and individuals.
Justin McGuire, co-founder and CEO – MENA and APAC – DMCG Global, told Arabian Business: “The 4.5 day working week announcement is a very shrewd and clever move from a talent attraction perspective, especially if the private sectors follow suit. No other country in the world will offer this, combine that with a tax free salary and the offer is even more attractive. I am very excited and happy with the announcement.”
While Nancy Gleason, NYU Abu Dhabi, future of work specialist, told Arabian Business: “The UAE’s announcement of the 4.5 day workweek is great news and aligns with the demands of the fourth industrial revolution. As automation creates the need for new kinds of jobs and new kinds of workers, humans can work less and still fulfill their roles.
“The new work schedule will increase employee happiness, decrease carbon footprints, boost worker productivity, increase domestic tourism, increase opportunities for life-long learning, and homogenise weekends across the globe.
“This is a clear sign that UAE is able to respond to lessons learned from Covid-19 in an agile and innovative manner. This shorter workweek will likely also attract more global talent and increase the quality of labor that want to come here for their careers.”
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.
Mimi Nicklin, CEO and founder of Freedm, a new creative agency set up to change their burnout-ridden industry, said: “Is there anything that the UAE isn’t set on leading? The nation has today made another trailblazing move as they shift to meet the ‘western’ world’s working week, whilst considering the balance and wellbeing for families nationwide.
“Committing to a shorter week, whilst matching economic and financial calendars globally, firmly proves that this is a national leadership team with the health of their people, as well as their nation, in mind.
“It is rare today to see a government so clearly prove their commitment to this balance in a nationwide change that makes economic as well as human sense. Humanism meets capitalism after all. I for one couldn’t be more thrilled to have the HQ of my business, which was built to hero this exact focus on human led growth, in a nation paving the way for change that heroes people as well as profit.”
The announcement comes in a year in which the UAE has spent more than $6 billion to help push 75,000 citizens into private-sector employment. Like other Gulf countries, the UAE has a large proportion of citizens working in state jobs that offer better pay but shorter hours.
Other countries across the region may follow the weekend change before long. In 2006, when the UAE became the first in the Gulf to change its weekend from Thursday and Friday to Friday and Saturday, it was followed by Saudi Arabia in 2013 and then much of the Gulf.
Louay Al Samarrai, managing partner, Active Digital Marketing Communications, which adopted a four-day working week in September this year, said: ” We all knew that there needed to be a whole new approach to how we work, where we work and when we work and with the tools we have today like Slack, Zoom and ever more powerful PDAs mobile and flexible workforces are here to stay. The fact that the UAE is not only open to that but now legislating around this new philosophy is a strong sign that other countries will need to follow suit.”
Carolyn Gibson, chief revenue officer at Euronews, said: “As an organisation headquartered in Europe, this is welcome news for us. We have no doubt this decision will help to strengthen both the commercial partnerships we have here in the UAE, and the work of our broadcast teams and reporters who share news from the region with our audiences in Europe. It’s also very interesting to see the move to a 4.5 day working week by government – reflecting broader global trends for enhanced work-life balance following the pandemic.”
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