It's a small revolution.
The United Arab Emirates have decided to spend their weekend from Friday and Saturday to Saturday and Sunday, the official WAM news agency reported on Tuesday.
In addition to Saturday and Sunday, the people of the Emirates will have an additional half-day of rest on the afternoon of Friday, the day of the weekly great prayer in Muslim countries.
"The United Arab Emirates are the first country in the world to introduce a work week shorter than the five days", in force elsewhere, according to the WAM.
From January
In most Arab countries, the weekend is Friday and Saturday.
The federation which brings together seven emirates will therefore become the only Gulf country with a Saturday-Sunday weekend, a decision which allows it to align itself with most countries outside the Arab world.
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“This extended weekend is part of the UAE government's efforts to improve work-life balance (…) as well as to increase the country's economic competitiveness performance”.
This new "national work week" will be compulsory for the public sector from January.