From next year onwards, government employees in the United Arab Emirates will have a two-and-a-half-day weekend.
Friday is the regular weekly holiday, which is now in effect, according to Article 70 of the Employment Law. The said Article 70 reads as follows.
‘All employees, excluding those on a daily wage basis, have a regular weekly holiday on Friday.’
Notably, by February 2022, the Employment Law will be repealed and replaced in its entirety by the new Federal Decree Law No (33) of 2021 on the Regulation of Labor Relations (the New Employment Law), which contains the following provisions in Article 21.
In terms of potential adjustments to private sector employees’ workweeks/weekly off days, no concrete announcements have been made yet. The altered workweek was announced for the UAE government sector, but it was not made mandatory for the private sector.
Every week, the employee must take at least one day off. According to the preceding provisions, the number of weekly off-days may be increased by ‘Law,’ which is defined as follows:
‘The law governing human resources in the federal government sector or labour relations in the private sector in the United Arab Emirates, as well as their implementing regulations and resolutions.’
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