UAE announces 4-day work, 3-day off program for govt employees

Dubai: Have you ever wished for a three-day weekly holiday? If so, this dream of many people in Dubai is about to come true.

The Dubai government has announced a four-day work and three-day holiday program for many civil servants this summer.

Under this program, civil servants will be divided into two groups.

One group will consist of people working 8 hours a day from Monday to Thursday, who will enjoy holidays from Friday to Sunday.

People in the second group will work 7 hours a day from Monday to Thursday, while they will have to work half a day on Friday, and they will have a day off on Saturday and Sunday.

This program will be implemented from July 1 to September 12.

Earlier, in the summer of 2024, the Dubai Government's Human Resources Department introduced a similar pilot program.

Under this program, a survey was conducted among employees to obtain their opinions on working hours during the summer, and a reduction in office hours was proposed during August and September.

The Human Resources Department, after observing the pilot program, declared it successful and recommended its implementation for another year.

Abdullah Al Faisal, Director General of the Dubai Human Resources Department, said that the program aims to improve the quality of life of employees and increase the sustainability of government resources.

Earlier, the Sharjah government also introduced a 4-day work and 3-day holiday program in 2022.

This was done when the UAE government began implementing a 4-and-a-half-day work week in January 2022.

It is pertinent to note that the largest trial of four-day work and three-day holiday every week in the world took place in the United Kingdom in 2022.

Of the 61 companies involved in the trial, 56 decided to maintain the practice, while 18 announced they would make it permanent.

The trial aimed to see what effects a 4-day work week with 3 days off had on employee productivity.

A total of 2,900 employees took part in the trial, and the results showed that their productivity improved.