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Talk Of Moving UAE Weekends To Saturday And Sunday Has Started Again
Conversation online today is rife with the suggestion that the UAE could swap weekend days from Friday and Saturday to Saturday and Sunday.
The reports claim that Friday could potentially become a half-day or a Work From Home day so people can continue to observe Friday as a religious day, and the working week would shift to Monday to Friday, to align with standard international working days.
We contacted Dubai authorities for a comment, who clarified that a decision like this would need to be a Federal one, adding they “do not have any confirmation yet”.
The government state news agency WAM also denied the claims that the weekends could switch in May this year, when rumours claimed a change was imminent.
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The Ultimate Winter City Is Coming To Expo City This Holiday Season!Today, Dr. Habib Al Mulla suggested that Friday would be a half-day and it could be a WFH day
احتمال أن يكون الدوام يوم الجمعة من المنزل ونصف يوم فقط وبالتالي يتم الجمع بين الحسنين https://t.co/OUIOMVNI6l
— حبيب الملا (@DrHabibAlMulla) July 4, 2021
In 2006, the decision was taken to shift the weekend from Thursday and Friday, to Friday and Saturday
The flip took the UAE calendar days one step closer to international weekends, a move celebrated by the private sector as it aligns working hours with the majority of other countries.
Oman followed, and finally Saudi also made the switch with a surprise announcement to shift to a Friday/Saturday working weekend in 2013.
ودّعوا الخميس للأبد! التغيير قادم قريباً.
— حسين مشربك (@hmusharbek) July 4, 2021
The state has previously denied that any further shifts would take place
The news that has been spreading on social media that [the] government was planning to make some changes [to] the weekend is fake,” No such news has been issued by the government and people should stop circulating such false information as it is misleading residents”.
Mohammed Jalal Al Raisi, executive director of WAM in May 2021, via local reports.
People are discussing the pros and cons of the switch
So what’s the deal with all this chatter about a Monday – Friday work week in the UAE?
— Ihab (@ihab) July 4, 2021
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