Another company tests the 4-day workweek 1:09
Abu Dhabi and London (CNN) - The
United Arab Emirates and its international financial center, Dubai, will change their working week to four and a half days ending at noon on Friday to facilitate global business.
The change from the current schedule from Sunday to Thursday, the first in a Gulf state, will help the UAE "achieve business continuity and alignment with world economies and banking," the government said in a statement.
The change will take effect on January 1 and will apply to public employees and schools.
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The United Arab Emirates, which has a predominantly Muslim population, said work will finish at 12 p.m. local time (3 a.m. Miami time) on Friday to allow people to attend prayers.
Friday is considered the holiest day of the week for Muslims.
Beginning in January, prayers will begin at 1:15 PM local time, about an hour later than today.
Public sector employees will also be offered the ability to work flexibly on Friday, including from home, the government said.
Abdulrahman Al Awar, the UAE government's director general of human resources, said private companies will be able to choose the weekend they consider best for their business, as long as employees have at least one day off.
"So each company will decide based on the sector in which it operates, based on its customers and the operations it manages," he told CNN.
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Other predominantly Muslim countries, such as Indonesia, Turkey, Morocco and Malaysia, have adopted the Monday to Friday schedule.
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The change, while softening trade ties around the world, will mean the UAE will no longer be in sync with neighbors like Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait.
The Dubai government announced that it would change its working week in compliance with Emirates-wide policy.
It is not the first time the UAE has changed its work week.
Between 1999 and 2006, the country had a Thursday-Friday weekend, before changing it to Friday-Saturday.
- Caroline Faraj contributed from Dubai and Celine Alkhaldi from Abu Dhabi.
United Arab Emirates