The Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates has directed that all banks be open for six days in a week, including Friday. Banks must also provide at least five hours of service each day. They are however free to choose the working hours of their staff in accordance with the new labour regulations that were recently introduced.Under the new labour law, an employee cannot be made to work for more than eight hours in a day. At the most, two hours of overtime each day are permitted, provided the total number of working hours in a week does not exceed 48. If the job requires that the employee work more than two hours of overtime to complete his/her tasks, an hourly overtime wage that is equivalent to 1.25 times the normal hourly wage must be paid.
The changes are all set to be in effect from 2nd January 2022.
International banks, which are not bound by the directives of the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates, have announced their shift to a Monday-Friday work week, with the weekend on Saturday and Sunday. Deutsche Bank will officially transition to a Monday-Friday from 3rd January 2022. Investment bank and financial services provider JP Morgan plans to do the same, with a break on Fridays for prayers. Société Générale will implement the changes from 2nd January 2022 for its Abu Dhabi and Dubai offices.
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Earlier in December 2021, the United Arab Emirates officially announced a 4.5 day work week for all Federal Government offices. The new work week is from Monday to Thursday, and till noon on Friday. Saturday and Sunday make up the weekend. This move also saw financial markets such as the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange and the Dubai Financial Market change their trading week from Monday to Friday, in consonance with global financial and commodities markets.A&A Associate LLC is a provider of corporate and legal services in the United Arab Emirates. It has been of assistance to clients from 100 countries around the world. It also has an excellent client satisfaction rate so far, and the aim is to do even better. For all your needs pertaining to business setup in Dubai and the rest of the United Arab Emirates, please call +971 56 408 6728 or use the form below to send a message.