The non-working public holidays in UAE for 2014 will most probably be 13, while employees in the private sector will get only 10 days off. Normally, workers in the government and public sector enjoy longer breaks than their counterparts who work for private employers and the next year won’t be an exception.[wpsr_retweet]
- January 1, Wednesday – New Year’s Day
- January 13, Monday – Prophet Mohammad’s Birthday (PBUH)
- May 26, Monday – Israa & Miaraj Night
- June 28, Saturday – Beginning of Ramadan
- July 28, Monday till Wednesday – Eid Al Fitr
- October 3, Friday – Arafat (Haj) Day
- October 4, Saturday till Monday – Eid Al Adha
- October 25, Saturday – Hijri New Year’s Day
- December 2, Tuesday and Wednesday – UAE National day
According to the common practice, New Year’s Day could be moved to Thursday, so that the public sector would have an extended weekend. However, the Western New Year’s Day, or 1st January, 2014 was declared an official holiday for both public and private sectors, with work resuming the next day. Prophet Mohammad’s Birthday can be marked on Sunday by the public sector, while for most private companies the paid break will remain Monday. Of course, Islamic holidays depend on the moon sighting and may differ a day or two.
Many of the religious holidays in the UAE are celebrated by employees in government and public firms for two and three days. But often, workers in private companies enjoy only one day off, while some of them even have to work during the holiday. Some private firms and organizations give Saturday as a regular day off, while others don’t have an official weekend day, so some workers can remain with very few days off during the entire year.
EId Al Fitr is expected to begin on Monday, but for the public sector, the non-working holiday may start even earlier – Sunday may be off, so the weekend could be really long this year, from Friday until Wednesday. In comparison, the private sector will probably get only Monday and Tuesday.
And the holiday of Waqfat Arafat of Eid Al Adha will probably begin on Friday, October 3. It will continue for four days for the public sector and is expected to be only three days for private workers.
